Worlds Colide
by JacklyinKarst
Summary: Artemis finds herself moving to Jasper Nevada after series of unfortunate events with the team. Intially unimpressed with the small town, she eventually comes to blows with a terrorist organisation known as M.E.C.H. Will she find a new team and new friends to beat this new foe?
1. Moving In

I know I know I should be updating my other stories before begining a new one. But inspiration hit me and I didn't want to lose it! So just for reference, this begins just after Auld Aquantince and in between New Recruit and Human Factor. Also for comedy sake Roy and Cheshire had Lian five years eariler though Roy is still a clone. Without further ado: The Prolouge!

* * *

A breeze blew through the desert air sending loose sand spiraling across the highway Artemis Crock was currently driving along. Her mother sat in the passenger side of their wheelchair accesable van as they sped towards their new home: Jasper Nevada. Needless to say the city girl was NOT happy about the move. She hadn't said anything to her traitorous mother since they had gotten into the van almost nine hours ago.

"Artemis I know your upset, but your going to have to speak to me eventually... this isn't exactly what you wanted-"

"What I wanted? I didn't want anything to change! That's what I wanted! But no! You just couldn't let me have that!" The blonde fumed loudly, unknowingly stomping on the accelerator. Paula allowed her daughter to vent her anger for another five mintues before paitently letting the blond's vocal chords rest a moment.

"Better now?"

"Much. I'm still mad though." Artemis glanced at the speedometer, cringed and eased off, letting their speed fall to below one hundred and seventy-five.

"Understandable. But you must know that I decided to leave Gotham because I thought it was the best thing for you!" Artemis used one hand to sweep her hair away from her face and behind her shoulders.

"Mom, I'm a crime fighter and we're moving to a speck of dust in the middle of nowhere. The only baddies to bust here are underage drinkers and shop lifters. Even if I was't leaving behind all my friends in Gotham, this is the worst possible place we could move! The nearest Zeta tube is in Las Vegas, which is at least a day and a half's drive! I had to quit the team because of yo-this!" She corrected failing to keep the exasperation out of her voice. Paula's face darkened a few shades.

"You know exactly why we had to leave Artemis. Getting away from the team is probably the only thing keeping you safe." Artemis sighed and admitted defeat. But she pushed the events causing their uprooting to the back of her mind for the moment. After all: They had just arrived. The house was definatly nicer then the tiny apartment that they had sold in Gotham. It was a cream coloured bungalo with forest green siding. It was similar, but not identical to the houses around it. And it was far to nice for them to afford, even with the money from the sold apartment.

"So how'd we afford this place anyways? Since when do we get nice things in life?" She asked as she helped Paula get her chair out of the van.

"Let's just call it a going away present from your uncle. To me of course. He said that he left your present inside." Despite her annoyance at the mess her life had become, Artemis couldn't help but smile and a curious excitment proded her inside the house. Call Oliver Queen what you would, but he did not skimp out on gifts. After her mother had assured her that she was fine and had handed her the key, Artemis pulled her bag from the back seat and headed inside. Sunlight streaming in the windows revealed the dust circulating in the air and it had a distinctly musty smell. Still it was nicer then her preveious home. Then again she had considered the Cave her home and nothing could ever replace that. All the doors were open, so she stuck her head into every room, and found one that she had deemed sutible to be her room. She dropped her bag onto the bare bed and continued searching for Ollie's promised gift. After scouring the entire house she discovered nothing. Feeling peevish she stomped into her new room and slammed the door shut.

"Lousy frigging fracking freaking archers." She grumbled. Falling onto her bed, the young archer turned her attention to the room. It was almost completly bare, with nothing but a bed and dresser. The walls were an off white colour everything stood out as bland. She didn't mean to but she started to go over the room the same way she would if she was at a crime scene. Artemis figured she must have gotten that from Robin. After all, there was only so long you could hang out with people as often as she did without picking up on habits. Maybe that was why she couldn't seem to satisfy her appitite. Dammit. She bit back tears as thought of Wally entered her mind. By far the most upsetting thing about all of this was losing him after they had only just gotten together. The blonde probably would have fallen apart if her scrutinizing eyes hadn't noticed a cream coloured sticky note blending in with the wall. Quick as a wink she whiped it off the wall and turned it over. On the back side in Oliver's neat scroll was a message for her.

_If your reading this I knew you'd pick this room and you just won me ten bucks! Thanks for that! Roy should have known I'm just that good! Anyways, I'm going to miss having my Gotham partner but I know that you won't be gone long. So to keep you from losing your touch I had the place renevated! (Don't tell Paula, she doesn't know!) If you haven't found it already the key to your closet training room is in you quiver. Make me proud! We'll all be working to get rid of this mess and bring you home asap! In the meantime stay sharp!  
And get traught! R  
Hello Megan, you can always reach me on the mind link! M.M.  
Stay safe, my friend. A.L.  
slirg thgin tuo txen emit ew teem! evol uoy! Z  
DNA sucks doesn't it? S.B.  
See you soon girl! R  
Your going to be a great aunt! (And stay sharp!) Ollie get off my message! R.A.  
Be safe and don't worry I'll always be here for you! Anything you need I'll be there in a flash and I love you and your my spitfire and I promise to bring you home as soon as I can and I love you and don't do anything stupid and I love you babe! Baywatch_

Artemis re-read the note six times before all the words made sense. The indivdual messages her team had left made her heart swell, especially Zatanna's, Robin's and Conner's. It wasn't untill her fifth read over that she realized the meaning in Roy's message.

"Holy... ROY YOU KNOCKED UP MY SISTER?!" She yelled to herself in disbelief. She filed the information away for further use and processed her 'uncle's' words. Artemis dug her quiver out of her bag and emptied it of her arrows. She found the key, which was fairly intricate and leapt toward her closet door. Just as she was about to turn the key though, her mother's voice wafted through the opened window.

"Artemis! Come out here and meet the neighbours!" The archer groaned with true regret and put the key safetly into a hidden pocket in her shirt.

* * *

Jack Darby sighed as his mother pulled him out of the garage and away from Arcee. It wasn't that he didn't want to meet the new people living next to them, it was just that he was about five seconds from heading to the Autobout base and meeting with his friends. He wasn't all that thrilled about meeting foggy old people he was unlikely to ever speak to again. It was a bit of a shock that one of the neighnours was a woman in a wheelchair.

"There you are. Jack, this is Paula Crock. Paula this is my son Jack." Paula smiled at him through tired eyes and extended a hand. Jack smiled back and shook it. For a frail looking lady in a wheelchair, she had a pretty firm grip.

"Nice to meet you Jack. I have a daughter around your age. Artemis! Come out here and meet the neighbours." She had a pretty good set of lungs too. Less then a minute later, a girl with the longest blonde hair Jack had ever seen appeared in the doorway. Her grey eyes surveyed his mother before falling on him. Feeling scrutinized Jack averted his eyes. "June, Jack, this is Artemis. Artemis this is-"

"June and Jack Darby. I got that." Paula shot her daughter a look and the almost angry gaze softened. "I saw your name on the mailbox. Hi." The mothers looked inbetween the teenagers who were trying to avoid eye contact.

"Jack, why don't you show Artemis around town? Introduce her to Miko and Raf?" June suggested. "That way I can help Paula get settled." Neither teen looked overly thrilled, but the stern, 'you're going to be doing it so don't argue with me' looks held back any rebuttle.

"Ok sure. I'll grab an extra helmet and we can head out. You may want to put on long sleeves." Artemis raised an eyebrow but didn't question him.

"I just need to um... put something away real quick. Meet you out here in ten?" Jack shrugged.

"Sounds good."

* * *

Back in the seclusion of her room, Artemis nearly screamed in frustration. All she wanted to do was check out Ollie's present, without being interupted. Was that so much to ask for? Aparently yes becuase she only had six minutes untill she was suppose to meet Darby outside. He seemed nice enough, but she never really was all that great at making friends and it was obvious he had places he'd rather be as well. For that reason she didn't keep him waiting, throwing on her brown leather jacket overtop her green tank top. She exited through her window for old time sakes and cut around the back. Jack was already waiting with the nicest motercycle she had seen since Harm had decided to blow up her own.

"Ees uoy noos Zee." She said a bit too loudly. Jack looked at her like she had sprouted horns but did her the kindness of not saying anything.

"Ready to go?" He asked already mounting the bike. Artemis took the helmet he offered her and got on behind him.

"Yup." He started the bike and she purred to life. They drove for a while going into the main part of town. The talk was minimal besides Jack pointing out the sights and landmarks. Finally Artemis said what she was sure was on his mind. "Thanks for doing this. You don't have to introduce me to your friends. It's cool." They reached a red light and Jack pulled to a stop and swivled to see a bit of her face.

"Anytime. And I think that they'd like you."

"How do you know? You don't even know me!"

"Gut feeling. Besides. It's not often that new people show up in Jasper." Artemis had to give him that one.

"Ok, whatever." She smiled, secretly pleased. Maybe she was better at making friends then she had thought.

* * *

So how was it? Should I contiune? Should I scrap it? Are there any pairings you'd like to see? I know there wasn't much action, but that is going to change really fast I promise you! Also all major characters from both series will apear! Just saying! Anyways let me know what you thought! :D


	2. First Contact

Jack let Artemis off and waved as she went inside her own house. He'd meet up with her again in a while to introduce her to Raf and Miko.

"So what do you think?" Arcee asked her partner as they stopped at a red light on their way to the base.

"What do I think about what?"

"Artemis. Are you going to keep hanging out with her?" Jack paused before answering. After the first awkward bit at the begining, the blonde had become far more friendly and actually pretty fun to hang out with.

"Yeah. She seems pretty cool. And I'd be a jerk if I just left her to fend for herself at school." The light changed and they were speeding toward the outskirts of town once again.

"Then you'd better figure out some excuses. Why you're missing everyday for hours on end. Otherwise it'll be Sierra all over again." Jack frowned sadly at the thought of her. She had barely spoken to him since she thought Arcee was a real person. Now it was awkward and cold between them.

"Good point. I'll get on that." The drove in silence untill they got to the silo. As they entered the main area, Miko's guitar revirberated across the rocks. "They'll like Artemis, I'm just not so sure Artemis will like them." Jack muttered as Arcee transformed and he walked over to where Raf was typing away at his computor.

"Hey Jack. What took you guys so long?" Raf asked looking up from the screen. The reflection on his glasses told Jack he was searching for Bumblebee sightings again.

"My mom made me meet the new neighbours." Raf cringed and looked at him sypathetically. Miko stopped playing long enough to put her own two sense in.

"Ugh I hate meeting new neighbours. All I do is stand around while my parents chat away about usless stuff! Then I get stuck babysitting their bratty kids."

"Actually, it wasn't too bad. Artemis is pretty cool." Both Raf and Miko snapped their attention over to Jack.

"YOU MET AN ACTUAL GREEK GODESS?!" Miko yelled drawing the Autobot's attention over to the humans.

"Uh no. There's a girl our age named Artemis that just moved in. I was planning on meeting her again later. You guys could come if you want." Raf shrugged and nodded.

"Sure. You wanna meet the new girl Bee?" Bumblebee whirred a yes.

"Cool! What's she like? Wait we aren't going to tell her about the 'bots are we?" Rachet looked over from his computor sharply.

"I think not! We have enough trouble keeping you three out of danger without adding another newbie to the roster." The medic complained.

"Wasn't planning on it. If you guys want to come I said I'd meet her at the KO Burger in about an hour." The kids nodded and went back to what they were doing.

* * *

Artemis was in archer heaven. She had slipped past her mother and Mrs. Darby, who were having some tea in the kitchen and bolted to her room. After locking the door, she set about unlocking the closet door. It creaked open and revealed... absolutly nothing. An ordinary closet.

"Well, Narnia was in very back..." Artemis mused trusting Oliver to have something hidden. It was a walk-in closet so she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. At first she couldn't see anything and was just standing around in the dark. The blonde groped the walls for anything resembling a light switch. She found one and flicked it. A single bulb feebly lite the room. There still wasn't anything obvious about the closet, so the archer glared at the empty space. "Ok, five bucks says that either Robin or Batman had something to do with this, meaning it'll something cliche. And even if they didn't, let's face it: All heroes love cliches. There isn't a book shelf in here, so what is typical for hidden closets?" She looked at her key for some help. Then an idea struck her and she went back out side. She put the key back into the lock again, only this time she put it in backwards. She was a bit surprised when it actually worked. Turning it three times before it finally clicked, Artemis took a deep breath before opening the door again.

This time, it wasn't an empty closet that greeted her, but a glowing elevator. Grinning ear to ear, she pulled out the key and entered, pressing the button. With an erie silence, she decended to the basement. Once the door slid open she nearly squeeled in excitment. Waiting for her was a smaller version of Ollie's training room at home. An archery range sat paralle to a boxing ring. A line of punching bags laid to the side of the ring which had a hook to suspend them from in the center. A small set of gymnastic equipment stood waiting in the back next to a bank of computors. There was a folded envelope adressed to her sitting on the consol.

_Dear Arty,_

_Hope you like your new training room. Even though your mother doesn't want you to stay too close to the team while the threat is still out there, these computors are linked to the ones in the Cave, so if you ever get lonley out there, give us a shout! You also have acess to the Bat computor's files, for some late night reading! The team, Roy and I are planning on comming down to visit in three weeks, so hold out untill then. Till then, stay safe and try not to get into any more fights then necessary. Oh and Robin says that he programmed the gymnastics equpiment to move and that he added some lasers for an 'interactive training simulation.' Be careful when you first try it ok?_

_Stay sharp!  
Oliver Queen_

Artemis laughed out loud before launching herself into a quick work out session before she had to go meet Jack.

* * *

Being one of the only fast food places in Jasper, the KO Burger was usually busy. Artemis found herself crowded in with fifteen people while she waited to order something. She hated crowds and was reminded of why when a muscular red head was horseing around with his friends and nearly knocked both of them off their feet.

"Watch it will you!" He grumbled, his back to her. The annoyed archer opened her mouth to spit out something nasty, but was cut off by a thin Japanese girl with twin pigtail ontop of her head.

"You watch it! You're the one who bumped into her jerk!" She retorted back. The ginger sneered at her, completly forgetting about Artemis.

"Shove off Nakadai. Go home will you?" And without waiting for a response, he and his friends left. Then the girl turned toward Artemis.

"Don't worry about Vince. He's kinda an ass." Artemis nodded.

"I got that." Expecting the conversation to be over, the blonde turned away and nearly ran into Jack. "Oh hey."

"Hey. Miko, this is Artemis. Artemis this is Miko." Jack said indicating the Japanese girl. Miko waved and gave a huge smile.

"Hiya!" Artemis returned the smile, although hers was a lot smaller.

"Hi. Thanks for back there I guess." Miko's grin got even bigger.

"No problem!" She said happily.

"And this is Raf." A small boy with square glasses and wild brown hair gave her a timid smile.

"Hey." She nodded back and the quartet decided to sit outside. The tables were close to the parking lot and Artemis' eye was imediatly caught by the brightly coloured muscle car on the other side of Jack's bike.

"Whoah. Nice wheels." She whistled tempted to go closer and check it out in greater detail. Man did she miss her own bike. Stupid Harm. From behind her, Miko, Raf and Jack exhcanged smirks.

"Yeah. The _coolest_ people own them." Jack said emphasising coolest. Miko and Raf snickered quietly. Artemis quickly caught on but decided to play along.

"Oh wow. Are they inside? Because I would _love_ to meet them."

"Eating inside is too mainstream for these guys!" Miko put in, badly supressing a smile.

"But no one's out here but us." Artemis said innocently. They all laughed and Artemis approached the machines. "But seriously, these are amazing! How'd you get them?" The others paled and racked their brains for an excuse. Arcee fought the urge to groan as paniked expression crept onto their faces.

"Jack got them! They were really old and crappy untill he tricked them out!" Raf said suddenly. After trying to lie to Optimus, lying to Artemis was far easier. She accepted this and looked mildly impressed.

"A friend of mine likes doing that. Though latley he's been distracted by his girlfriend..." She sighed thinking about how Conner and M'gann would go to 'work on his bike' when they wanted to make out. They talked about their vehicles for a bit before they turned to life in Jasper, what Gotham was like ect. Finally it started to get dark out, and they said their goodbyes. Jack offered to give Artemis a lift home but she declined. After the others were out of sight, the heroine slipped into a bathroom and changed into her work cloths. For a while she actually patroled, but after an hour of nothingness, she gave up and went for a run across the roofs. She was back home at ten thirty.

"So, made any new friends?" Paula asked as Artemis trudged into the kitchen. Grabbing some milk from the fridge she shrugged.

"Maybe. They seem nice enough."

"You see? You have to admit everyone is much friendlier here!" Artemis rolled her eyes and went back to her room. Someone had made her bed and put away her cloths for her. The room seemed less bland then before but it definatly needed some colour. Unrolling her posters, she tacked them up on the walls facing her bed. The absence of Jade's bed was obvious when her Alice in Wonderland poster went up. After her bag was completley empty and there was nothing left to do, Artemis retreated to her training room. She sat in the computor chair and checked the time. It was past midnight on the other side of the country so everyone was either asleep or on patrol. Sighing, she decided to read up on the villians that operated on the west coast.

* * *

A day later, it was Artemis' first day of school. While she loved not having to wear a stuffy uniform, she sorely missed Bette, who was one of her best friends at Gotham Academy. Jack had promised her that he would show her around, but it was a small campus and the tour lasted all of five minutes.

"At least you can't get lost!" Jack told her as she fiddled with the lock on her locker.

"You can if you try hard enough." She responded, getting a smile out of him. After getting her combo memorized and dumping her bag into the bottom of her locker they departed for homeroom. Jack headed for a seat near the back while Artemis spoke to the teacher. Vince and his friends came in soon after the bell rang.

"Detention boys." The teacher sighed as they sat down. There were a few complaints but they settled down fairly quickly. "Now class we have a new student. Artemis, why don't you sit inbetween Mr. Darby and Mr. Raider. Artemis recognized the orange haired boy from the KO Burger and supressed a sigh. She sat down at an angle so that she was facing Jack instead of the front.

"Hey babe. I'm Vince. If you want I'd be happy to show you around after school in my converatble." He whispered, not recognizing her from the other day. Jack scowled at him.

"Don't you have detention after school?" Artemis asked raising an eyebrow. Vince shrugged.

"For you I'd get out of anything... or into anything." Artemis rolled her eyes and turned her attention to her schedual.

"Thanks but I've already had the grand tour." She said dismissivly. Vince opened his mouth to argue but was cut off by a vibrating comming from Artemis' skinny jeans.

From: Baywatch  
Message: Hey babe! Miss u so much!

Artemis smiled and typed in her reply.

To: Baywatch  
Message: I know me 2! I wish u were here alot right now!

From: Baywatch  
Message: Bsides obvious reasons, y?

To: Baywatch  
Message: Cause theres a wannabe cassanova trying to make a move... kinda reminds me of you

From: Baywatch  
Message: Thanks. I can b over there kicking his ass in two min if u want.

To: Baywatch  
Message: Thanks babe but I can handle myself. Say hi to the others 4 me.

From: Baywatch  
Message: will do! Stay safe

While she was getting infinatly tired of people warning her to be safe, she felt better after texting Wally. The rest of the day went by without anything interesting happening. She sat with Jack, Raf and Miko at lunch, told Vince to screw himself a few times (Not that it did much) and was bored in class. After school, she discovered that her new friends were no where to be found. Feeling a bit hurt she made her way home by herself, unaware Vince and his buddies had ditched detention.

* * *

"She's so cool and funny Bulk! In science she told Vince where to stick his offer and I swear he almost ran away he was so scared!" Miko gushed to her gaurdian. He was sitting in the medical bay while Rachet did some tests. The medic shook his head.

"Sounds like she knows how to handle herself." Somkescreen commented. Jack nodded.

"She's from Gotham City. She has to be." All the bots looked at him strangley.

"And why is that?" Optimus asked.

"Because Gotham is the most dangerous city in States! It has the highest crime rate of any city in the world!" Raf exclaimed, forgetting that the Autobots didn't read newpapers. He typed away at his computor and pulled up several articles on the big screen. Smokescreen walked up and read aloud.

"'Joker Venom Kills Rescue Wokers in Murderous Rampage.' 'Gotham Academy Held Hostage by Black Mask.' 'Riddler Confunds GCPD Once Again.' 'Batman and Robin Resuce City from Poison Ivy.' No wonder she moved..." Smokescreen muttered skimming the stories.

"Artemis said that she was almost mugged hundreds of times!" Miko said with far too big a grin on her face. "But she beat them off with her bare hands!"

"I think what she said was closer to: I've almost been mugged a few times. But I've always gotten away in time." Jack corrected. Miko rolled her eyes and Arcess joined Smokescreen by the screen.

"Kinda makes you wonder how her mom ended up in her wheelchair." Jack looked at the articles and wonder what exactly Artemis had been thorugh.

Finally the articles became too much and Smokescreen snapped.

"I'm going for a drive." He said transforming into his alternate mode.

"Don't go too far and don't cause trouble!" Arcee warned. Smokesscreen honked his horn and barrled out of the base.

* * *

Artemis was laughing. She shouldn't have been, considering her situation, but to her it was incredibly funny. Vince and about six of his friends had cornered her in an alleyway on her way home.

"Nobody makes a fool out of me!" Vince growled advancing on her. Artemis didn't even bother getting into a proper fighting stance.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." She said caually, leaning up against a wall. If they were in Gotham and kids from school had her cornered, she would have been a bit more worried, but these guys were small town punks. That freshman Grayson could have taken these guys. Most of them were imitating fighting stances from movies. In fact Artemis was tempted to start humming music from Kung Fu Panda.

"You're going to pay. Right boys?" His gangs grinned and cheered their agreements.

"Sure I am. But I got to go, so I'll be seeing you fellas." She made to push past them, but Vince grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground. "Have it your way then." She used her legs to sweep his out from underneath him sending him sprawling next to her. She popped up and ducked under a fist. Delivering a hit of her own, the boy went down next to his leader. The others decided that trying to hit her was a bad idea and let her past. She nodded toward them and rounded the corner. She almost bumped into the sportscar with a 38 painted on the side, but flipped over it at the last second. After she had gone, Smokescreen watched the boys sprint for the lives in the opposite direction. He grinned to himself. He liked this girl already.

* * *

A well passed and besides some death glares from Vince and his cronies, the rest of Artemis' passed without incident. She had settled into a simply but boring routine. Jack would drive her to school, she'd eat lunch with him and his friends, she'd find her own way whomever then utilize her 'Goddess Cave' as she'd come to affectionately call her training room. She had decided that Raf was her favourite of the new friends she had made. Jack was nice enough but she couldn't shake the feeling he was hiding something from her. Miko was... Let's just say that there were times when Artemis wouldn't mind sealing her in a cave. She was nice enough but her impulsiveness and perky attitude was driving hype Gotham girl mad. Miko had asked if she knew Batman at least twenty times already. (She did know him of course but admitting that was begging for fangirl screaming.) Raf on the other hand was laid back and chill-something that Artemis desperately needed in her hectic life. He also reminded her of Robin. The hacking skills were uncanny. But it puzzle her as to where her friends went off to after school everyday. On Wednesday she asked about it.

"So what are you doing after school today?" She asked Jack on their way to school.

"Oh um helping my mom at the hospital."

"They let you do that?"

"Yup. So did you watch the news last night? They said that Flash Kid and Robin were spotted in Star City."

"Maybe their visiting Red Arrow or something. And it's Kid Flash."

Asking Miko and Raf gathered similar results. She didn't push them though. Who was she to judge those who had secrets?

* * *

She was bored. Again. And the team was on a mission. Jack, Miko and Raf were nowhere to be found and her mother was over at the Darby's. Oliver and the others were supposed to be here in a weeks time, but that didn't help her save her Friday night. Artemis didn't feel like looking through the Bat computer again, so she suited up. Knowing there wasn't going to be any action in town, she made her way to the city limits. It was times like these that she wished she had a car. Even a moped would have been nice at this point. But since she didn't have any type of wheels, she was forced to simply hike along the road and into the rocks. She climbed until she could see all of the valley and town below her. Being an archer, her eyesight was like a hawk's. She had hawk eyes. Scanning the dessert she saw little of interest.

"At least in Gotham we have things to look at." She muttered to herself. Just she was about to go back down, a glinting light caught her eye. It appeared that a train of five cars was protecting a trailer. On the side she could read the insignia for the United States Miliary. The cars however did not lok like something the military would employ. Narrowing her eyes she activated her comm. link.

"That you Rob?" There was a grunt of pain from the other end.

"'Mis? Not saying that it isn't-ugh- great hearing from you, but I'm kinda in the middle -umph- of something."

"I'll make it quick. Has anything been stolen from the military lately?"

"A huge power converter... But why- Artemis your not supposed to be getting involved in something this big! What part of lay low-"

"That's great, thanks Rob! Better let you get back to whatever it is your doing! Bye bye now!" She said in mockingly sweet accent. Robin tried calling her name, but she ignored him and disconnected. She strung an arrow, aimed for tires of the first car and let the arrow fly. It was a real arrow and with stunning accuracy, the tip impaled itself into the wheel of the first car. It spun out wildly and it's rear end smashed into the scar behind it. The trailer slowed down to a stop and the three cars behind it surrounded it. The occupants got out of their cars, futuristic weapons in hand.

The next arrow was an exploding one that punctured a the farest cars fuel tank. The light show was impressive and the goons scattered, some guns going off in a panic. Artemis snickered and started taking out baddies.

* * *

The base was calm. The only real movement wears Miko and Bulkhead doing his physio. Raf and Bee were playing a racing game while Jack and Arcee tired to explain to Smokescreen where human babies came from.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY COME FROM INSIDE THE FEMALE HUMANS?!" Arcee was doing her best not to fall over. June had explained it to the other Autobots months ago. She was never so happy to be a robot.

"It's not that bad-" Jack began.

"Ha! Let's talk after you push a baby out of your uterus!" Miko called from her place by Bulkhead. "Then you can say 'it's not that bad!" Smokescreen looked like he was going to faint.

"That's not right." He mumbled. Arcee couldn't help but laugh. Just then, the entire silo shook. Optimus and Rachet hurried in and the doc pulled up the security cameras.

"It looks like M.E.C.H. Is transporting something a few miles out from us. Something must have malfunctioned in one of their cars."

"Arcee, you Bumblebee and Smokscreen investigate." Optimus requested. The aforementioned bots nodded and transformed as Rachet opened the main door. It didn't take them long to find the cars. Three of them were on fire and the other two had human shaped dents in them. Smokescreen transformed at once, making the other hiss at him.

"Are you crazy? What if their were other humans around?" Arcee demanded.

"But you guys said that M.E.C.H already knew about us!" Before either could respond, the sounds of gunfire cut through the air. It was cut off by a sudden twanging sound some grunting, and the sound of fists hitting flesh.

"I have no clue who you guys are," a slightly out of breath voice said, "but you're defiantly better then sitting around my place alone. So while it's not the perfect Friday night date, you'll do." swiveld to see a blonde girl dressed in a forest green two piece outfit trading blows with masked mercenaries. Her back was to the enormous mechas, but the goons could. Unfortunately, they were not nearly as stupid as some of the hired help circulating in Gotham. The leader of the transport party called out just loud enough toor the heroine to hear.

"Back up is here. Let's go." The men not fighting with Artemis shot at the Autobots, aiming for their optics and face plates. A few stray bullets managed to hit Smokescreen and his face darkened. With narrowed eyes, he growled and leaned over to swipe at the shooters. He came dangerously close to Artemis though and nearly clipped her.

"Ah! HOLY SHIT!" She cursed taking a step back. Her current sparring partner took advantage of her shock and fled after his comrades. They all piled into the trailer and sped off.

* * *

Artemis had grown tired of just shooting at the thieves and had jumped down to their level. She used a sleeper hold on one of the masked men and slammed another into the side of his car. The others reacted much faster then anyone she was used to and opened fire in her. Some of the bullets set off another explosion sending them all rolling. Artemis was up first and she kicked the closest man in the face. Another had his gun trained on her but a quick twang of her bow sent the gun off somewhere in the dark. The rest engaged her in hand to hand, which only served to make her grin. The fight had been going well. Until the giant ass, pissed off robots showed up. Her adrenaline made her freak out a bit and in the seconds that her prey used to escape, she had an arrow notched and aimed at the robots. The giant ass and pissed off robots. The blue feminine one stride to speak but Artemis' assassin instincts had already kicked in.

"Wait we're on your-" Her last explosive arrow went off at her feet making her stumble. Smokescreen, who was already mad, slammed his fist down, and Artemis rolled backwards out of the way. Bee jumped in front of Smokescreen before he could attack again.

_"No! She's not the enemy! Besides we try to never kill humans!" _he whirred.

"She attacked us!" Smoke protested. Arcee had tried reasoning with her again, but was cut off again. As she was about to try a third time, the merc that had been subjugated to Artemis' sleeper hold earlier woke up. The heroes failed to notice him as they fought each other. Silently, he pulled a knife and threw it. It twisted in the air and Artemis caught sight of it in her preifial vision. She only managed to just turn in time to avoid the kill shot. Instead the blade lodged itself in her side. The Autobots felt their eyes grow wide and crimson red blood seeped from the wound.

"Well I'm dead." Artemis muttered, her fingers slipping on the emergency S.O.S button on her bow. Arcee was beside her in seconds. The archer tried to roll away but the femme gently put a hand over her.

"Like I tried to tell you earlier. We're not here to fight you Artemis. Now lay still." The girl's eyes narrowed. Normally when she made that face it was because Wally had found a new way to piss her off.

"How did you-cough- know who-" Arcee sighed and took a step backwards to transform. Artemis' eyes widened before she fell unconscious.

"Wait that's." Smokescreen put the pieces together and his own optics widened.

_"Why is she dressed like that?" _Bumblebee wondered. Smokescreen gave him an incredulous look.

"Does it matter right now?! We have to help her!" Arcee nodded and touched her comm. link.

"Rachet. We need a bridge. Have the medical bay ready for a human."

* * *

Sorry for the cliffhanger. I'll try not to have too many of those if I don't think I'll be able to update soonish. And it was so long too! But I really wanted to put in some action for you guys because your reviews were so amazing! I thank you all for that! :D. Anyways some of you had excellent questions and they will be answered in the next chapter. If there are any spelling or grammar issues please bear with me, this was written this an iPad. Anyways feel free to review or PM me any questions complaints praise or ideas. thanks for reading!


	3. Getting in the Know

Artemis woke to the painfully annoying, though familiar sounds of a heart rate monitor. Her eyes were bleary and for a moment she couldn't see properly. A moment of panic later her vision cleared and she took in her surroundings. The bed she was laying on looked like it came straight from the emergency room. The room was spacious and it sort of reminded her of the Cave. The archer made to slip off the bed to investigate her surroundings more, but a burning sensation in her side stopped her. An aged, scratchy voice spoke from her left side.

"If you move your going to rip your stitches." Her blonde hair whipped around and she saw a white and red robot standing to her left side near a giant computer screen. With an embarrassingly shrill squawk, Artemis tried to retreat as far back as she could. Instinctively she reached for her bow and arrows, only to find them missing. Again. She really hated waking up after a fight and feeling 'naked' in an unfun way. The large mech rolled his at her fear and continued to stare at the screen.

"Hey Artemis. Glad to see your awake." Jack's disembodied voice drifted trim above her. Artemis craned her neck upwards to see three pairs of eyes watching her worriedly. "How are you feeling?" At first Artemis just looked at them.

"Artemis? Are you okay?" Raf asked timidly. The poor boy ahead nearly fainted at the sight of all the blood that had pooled in the back of Bumblebee Alternate mode.

"Why are there giant robots wandering around Jasper Nevada?" She asked. Miko suddenly perked up with excitement. Artemis heard the white and red automaton groan.

"Their called Autobots! And their totally from outer space! They had this huge war on their planet called Cybertron with these super evil guys called Decepticons! After a long time their planet became inhabitable so they all went off world and a bunch of them showed up on earth! But some cons came too so the bots have to fight them! And me and Raf and Jack have some of them as guardians cause Jack and Raf saw one of their fights! And they can scan cars or planes and then turn into them! You've already seen Bee and Arcee but I think Bulky has the coolest alternate mode!" The perkier girl explained with enthusiasm. Artemis felt a headache coming on and sighed. Gingerly holding the bandages on her side, she slipped off the bed. The trio came down a staircase she hadn't noticed before.

"So let me get this straight," she began when they were at eye level. "A bunch of alien robots came to earth bringing their war with them and when three teenagers happened to witness them, they decided the best course of action would be to keep them around and act like their personal chauffeurs?" The archer asked suspiciously. Miko nodded vigorously, but the boys looked less certain.

"Well yes, but it was for our own protection. If the cons tracked us, we probably would have ended up dead." Jack said. Artemis looked skeptical, but before she could ask anymore questions, five more robots came in. Barley reaching their ankles, Artemis couldn't help but feel intimidated. Even more so then when she first met the League. And when Artemis felt intimidated she tended to get a little difficult. The biggest and most impressive looking robot spoke to her in a gentle but still authoritative voice.

"I am glad to see you are feeling better." The only response the Prime got was a scowl. "I can imagine it has been quite a night for you."

"Meeting alien robots and getting kidnapped by them is certainly a new one." She sneered. Behind the leader the other Autobots exchanged looks.

"So the whole getting stabbed and fighting a terrorist organization isn't new?" Asked the large green robot. Something about the way he was holding himself told Artemis that he was hurt. She wasn't aware anything could hurt these titans.

_"And we didn't kidnap you! _The robot that Artemis remembered being Raf's cool muscle car beeped. She didn't understand the words but the tone of voice was pretty clear.

"I was running around in a green spandex outfit with Green Arrow's symbols and a quiver choke full of arrows. Fighting bad guys is my job if you couldn't guess." She said dryly, skirting around the stabbing part. That's when Jack spoke again.

"About that... are you actually a-?" Jack asked with the feeling we was treading into some touchy subjects.

"Are you a hero? Do you work with the Justice League? Are you Green Arrow's sidekick? Is that why you're in green and have a bow?" Miko burst out, like she'd been containing herself a very long time. Artemis growled.

"We are not sidekicks!" She hissed. Miko recoiled a bit, but her eyes were still shining. Artemis figured she could probably deny it. After all, she was relativly unknown to the public. Only a handful of civvians knew that Green Arrow had a new partner. Hell, there were more super villians that knew her secret ID then normal people who knew she excisted. But she didn't especially want to lie to her new friends. She had learned her lesson. Besides: they had trusted her with their secret. And it was just as big as hers.

"So you really are a hero?" Raf asked. Artemis sighed and nodded.

"So have you like met the League?" Miko asked. "What's it like to be a heroine? Do you hang with the other sidekicks? Is Green Arrow as awesome as Batman? Do you actually run across rooftops at night? What's your hero name?" she said in one breath. Artemis must have looked overwhelmed, but the feminine Autobot cut in.

"I think a better question is how is your injury Artemis?" Artemis shot her a grateful look.

"It's fine. By far not the worst I've endured. Now not to be rude, but who exactly are you? And where am I? Because I'm fairly certain my mother is going to be ballistic when I get back." The leader smiled softly.

"Of course. We have properly introduced ourselves. I am Optimus Prime, the leader of this team." The hero listened to him speak. Though he wasn't trying to make it sound like it, the name was hard not to find impressive. He had a warm fatherly tone that she could listen to all day. "This is Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Rachet and our newest member, Smokescreen." Prime indicated each member who gave some type of indication, a whir, a smile or gruff wave of a servo. But the newest member was the one who caught the archers eye. He seemed familiar.

"Hello?" Artemis said, unsure of what to say next. Miko ended the silence quickly.

"So what is the League like?" Bulkhead looked confused.

"What's the league?" He asked. Miko grinned and ran over to him. He lowered a servo and she hopped on.

"Their the coolest! The Justice League is a big group of heroes who joined forces to better fight the forces of evil!" Everyone was watching Miko as she told stories about some of the Leagues exploits. Well almost everyone. Smokescreen was watching Artemis, who often rolled he eyes at the over exaggerated details of the girls stories. The blond was curiously examining the mechs in front of her. Smokescreen was feeling a bit guilty that he'd almost gotten her killed. The amount of blood she'd shed was both sickening and fascinating at the same time. He doubted that any other human could get stabbed and then wake up and act like it was nothing four hours later.

After Miko's fourth story, Artemis decided they'd gotten the idea. "Yeah they're big heroes who save people. So how is it you don't know who they are? Better question, why don't they know that aliens have wound up on earth and are fighting a secret war on our planet?" She couldn't keep the accusatory tone from her voice, though she did give it her best shot. Before any of said aliens could answer, the sounds of an elevator closing sounded and a man with a hefty stomach showed his face.

"Because even the President doesn't know that these guys are here. And believe me, I trust him far more then I trust the League." Artemis glared at him. He was obviously a government agent. Immediately the blonde did not trust him for this fact. "Prime, why is it that you bots can't seem to help revealing yourselves to teenagers?" Smokescreen had no idea who this guy was, but he was being unbelievably disrespective to Optimus.

"I assure you Agent Fowler, revealing ourselves was a matter of life and death." Fowler noticed that the blonde girl who was standing next to the boys had a blood soaked bandage wrapped around her side and his hard expression softened a bit.

"But I can assume that M.E.C.H got away because of this matter?" His voice was still annoyed though.

"I am afraid so."

"Okay just who the hell are these guys anyways? And what do they want with such a huge power converter anyways?" Everyone looked back at the new girl. It was Raf who explained.

"M.E.C.H is a terrorist organization who is obsessed with getting their hands on the newest and most powerful technology. Lately that ambition has been focused on the Autobots. A few months ago, their leader Silas was presumed dead after a fight with the bots. But I have no clue why they would want a power converter." The name triggered an old memory in Artemis. Her father had mentioned an ex-special op military contact he'd gone for drinks with. Then there was conversation about a new 'company' he'd founded. Silently she groaned. She had a feeling things were going to get complicated soon.

"That isn't important right now. Right now, we need to deal with you Ms. Crock." Jack noticed his new friend tense at her name. He guessed when she was in costume hearing her civilian name was unnerving. Especially by someone she didn't know. "You know our little secret."

"So what if she does? It's not like it was her fault! Beside, what's one more human?" Smokescreen demanded. Fowler turned to look at him. Arcee raised an eyebrow about his outburst. This was the second time tonight he had yelled for the young archer.

"So what is that M.E.C.H is going to be looking out for her now, which is exactly the opposite of why she's here." Inside, Artemis wanted to tackle him and demand to know how much he knew of the threat that had pushed her from her home in grimy Gotham. The others didn't know what on earth he was talking about. "And I'm well aware of who's fault it is hotshot. Another human means that another bot has to take care of her."

"WHAT? Okay I don't know you think you are, but let me tell you something Fowler! I've been taking care of myself since I was nine and just because some new terrorist have decided to keep an eye out for a kid in green does not mean that changes. And in case you haven't noticed I can keep a secret. Better then these guys it appears." Smokescreen and the others felt insulted, but only scowled. In her outburst the blonde had strode up to Fowler and gotten in his face. Robin had been teaching the team to do 'Batglares' and hers was by far the closest to the real thing. It must be a Gotham thing. Fowler didn't back down though.

"Not the point. You're not supposed to be operating. You shouldn't have even been in costume!"

"You wanna try to stop me _Agent?_" She spat venomously.

"What I want is for hotshot to act as your guardian. Believe it or not kid,but you can't fight this alone. Especially with those stitches."

"I am inclined to agree with agent Fowler. Smokescreen, I would like you to watch over Artemis as her Guardian like the other do for Jack, Miko and Raf." Optimus said. Though she'd just met him, the blonde knew not to argue with the Prime and only scowled. Smokescreen nodded and looked over his new... Well he still wasn't sure what he saw her as. He liked her spunk, but she was still just a human. Fowler nodded and headed back for the elevator. When he was inside he called out his parting words.

"I know you can keep a secret Ms. Crock. So I would keep this from the other heroes. Otherwise things could get messy." And with that, the doors shut and Fowler had gone.

"What a rude little overbearing human." Smokescreen commented in disgust. Artemis nodded in agreement. Then she turned to Jack.

"Could I borrow your cell? I've been gone from home a while and I didn't tell my I was going out and I don't want her to worry."

"Don't worry my mom phoned her after she stitched you up and said you were sleeping over at Miko's." Artemis smiled gratefully.

"Thanks. So what now?"

"Well since it's almost twelve why don't we all have a sleepover here?" Miko suggested. She had told her host parents that she was at a friends house and Raf had said he was staying over at Jack's. Rachet looked up and over at Optimus. Previous sleepovers had not ended in a quiet night.

"Would you care to join me for a drive old friend?" Optimus asked. Rachet nodded and they left. Artemis shot a questioning look over to Raf.

"They don't especially like our sleepovers." Was all he said. Artemis nodded.

"Do you know where my quiver is? I think I have some spare clothes in it." Arcee nodded and walked down a hall.

"Why do you keep spare clothes with your ammo?" Smokescreen asked curiously.

"Because I spend entirely too much time with overly paranoid bats." She said in that dry sarcastic tone that was becoming somewhat of an enduring personality trait. Arcee returned with both her precious bow and quiver in servo. "Thanks. Here we go." She said opening a secret compartment in the bottom of her quiver. Miko showed her where to change and she came back wearing a yellow shirt with the flash logo on the left breast pocket. Her pants were black and tight with an embroidered Batman sigil on the right pocket.

"So who's up for truth or dare?" Jack asked. Everyone groaned but sat down in a circle anyways.

"What's truth or dare?" Smoke whispered to Arcee sitting down cross legged with the Autobots who were in a bigger circle surrounding the humans.

"Just watch. It'll come to you." She said.

* * *

The game lasted much longer then Jack had first thought it would. As he assumed would happen, nearly all the questions were directed at Artemis and were about her hero life. To his surprise she seemed to be fairly open with all them.

"So is Batman really as scary as the news makes him out to be?"

"Oh god yes. But after you've gotten to know him, he's actually really caring and protective."

"How'd you become a hero?"

"Rebelling against my father. I didn't like what he wanted me to do with my abilities so I started fighting crime with them instead. I saved some other League partners and the next night Green Arrow asked me to join him."

"What's it like? Being a hero."

"Honestly? Between the injuries, lack of sleep and constant pressure, it sucks. But I wouldn't give it up for my life."

" Are you seriously dating Kid Flash?"

"If by dating you mean we go on patrol together on Saturday nights and don't try to kill each other back at our base, then yeah. We finally are."

Her own questions were all for the Autobots.

"If your aliens, then do you know about the Kyrptonians and Martians and other aliens like that?"

"Just before the war began, Cybertron had contact with many other planets, Krypton among them. When the war began, Krpton sided with the Autobots, giving us shelter and a place to house some energon stocks. But they refused to fight. They were a peaceful people who never did any wrong. But one day the Decepticons found out we were housing a large stockpile of energon there and obliterated the planet when they refused to hand it over. We mourned the loss for a month. As for the Martians, we haven't had any contact with other species in this solar system. Why have you met a Kryptonian or Martian?" Arcee said darkly. Artemis smiled softly and nodded to her question.

"Who exactly are the Decepticons, was it? And what's energon?" The Autobots and gotten dark looks for that one.

"Their the bad guys who are obsessed with ruling the universe, seeking vengeance on the Autobots, beating people up and lying, cheating and stealing to get what they want. Though not necessarily in that order. Energon is our fuel." Artemis made a snide comment about realistic goals.

"You've seriously never heard of the Justice League?"

"It's not like Jasper has ever required the assistance of the big shot heroes, 'Mis. And the newspaper kid doesn't deliver out here. But how has the League not heard of the Cybertronians? I mean the Decpeticons are kinda known for destroying worlds." Raf explained and asked.

"I've been wondering about that myself. Batman doesn't have any files on his computer on these guys, (YOU'VE SEEN THE BATCOMPUTOR?!) so either the government is doing a very good job at keeping the League in the dark, or Bats just hasn't put them in his computer. You could say that they aren't exactly the most open with their partners all the time. By the way where is here?"

"An abandoned missile silo just outside of town." Jack said flippantly.

Finally, after a lot of truths, and very little dares, the kids found themselves dropping off. Each guardian picked up their own, though Bulkhead had a little bit of trouble, and placed them on the blow up mattresses that were by the tv. Smokescreen was a bit hesitant.

"So um, did you need any help?" Artemis had her eyes half closed and was curled into a ball.

"Maybe this one time." She mumbled. Extremely cautiously, Smokescreen picked up a human for the first time. He couldn't explain at all what the human felt like in his hands. Her clothes were silky, and her skin a bit rough, but still soft. Her hair tickled him a little. Overall, her warm body was comforting to hold. He slide her onto the bed in between Miko and Raf, careful of her hurt side. As he and the others walked toward their own rooms to recharge, he couldn't help smile at his new ward, just a little.

Artemis wouldn't say it out loud just yet, but she liked her new partner. After he had gotten the hang of the truth or dare thing, he'd asked some good questions. And he had asked her about herself. Like he cared about who she was more then who her hero persona was. And he was the only one who didn't make fun of the fact her secret ID was the same as her heroine name. Artemis fell asleep far happier then she'd been in weeks.

* * *

The M.E.C.H scientists just finished setting up their new power converter. The soilders who brought it in where currently in the debriefing room. Their stand-in leader was not the happiest woman in the world.

"What do you mean you got into a fight with the Autobots and some archer?" She yelled. The leader of the transport team raised an eyebrow at his 'leader.' He signed up to work for Silas. Not this witch.

"We were attacked by the girl first. Her vantage point made it impossible to tell where she was coming from and she took out two of our cars. She then got over confidant and tried to take us out up close. The Autobots showed and we made our escape. We've already been over this. Or was the information too much to handle in one siting." The woman growled low in her throat. It would have made another man whimper in fear. But the transport leader, a man know as Bishop, was not another man.

"You nearly lost the power converter to some little girl with a bow and arrow?" The woman , who's name was Marr, hissed.

"It wasn't some little girl, I believe it was Green Arrow's newest brat. What she was doing all the way out here, I don't know. But I am going to find out." Bishop said evenly.

"See that you do. Inform me immediately of her movements. I want to know everything about this kid, understand?" Bishop gave a curt nod and Marr swept from the room with what she probably thought was an air of authority. Everyone else thought she looked like a peacock. Bishop pulled a bloodstained knife from his pocket. He handed it to one of the scientists that had come into the room.

"Here. Run this through a DNA test for me would you?" Bishop had an inkling of who the mysterious archer was. And if he was right, he was about to become a very rich man indeed.

* * *

So how was Chapter 3? Did you like the truth or dare segment? I know its not very original, but thats what I came up with. ANy guesses as to what the threat is? I'd love to hear them! Who knows they may be better then what I have in mind! :D Thanks so much to those who reveiwed, followed and favorited. And yes Bishop and Marr got their names from TMNT and Skulduggery Pleasent. I've been watching and reading entirly too much of that stuff these days.


	4. Comparing Skills

The next morning, it surprised everyone in the base that Artemis was already stretching despite her fresh battle wound. Rachet was less than pleased with her early morning routine.

"Are you out of your processor? Do you want to pull out your stitches?!" Artemis rolled her eyes in an annoyed fashion. She hadn't been doing any type of stretches that would pull on her side, (which wasn't even painful anymore,) only arm, neck, shoulder and leg stretches. Besides she was used to working through her injuries, especially stab wounds, thanks to her father's harsh training routine. Not to mention the steroids he used to feed her that accelerated healing and muscle growth. Even though she hadn't been under her father's thumb for almost a year, she still took the pills at least every two months. After all, she was only human and she would take any advantage she could get.

"I think my stitches will be fine thank you. Besides, I usually do far more strenuous activities after being injured. I should be able to work out at my full capacity by Wednesday at the latest. It wasn't a very deep slash anyways." She snapped. Rachet groaned inwardly knowing that treating this patient was going to be even worse than dealing with Wheeljack. But she was right. It hadn't been a very deep wound at all. The stitches were only there as a precautionary measure and to stop the wound from re-opening. In fact, she probably wouldn't have even fainted had the injury not been coupled with the revelation that there were giant alien robots wandering th earth. None the less, Rachet still insisted that she refrain from moving her side around for another few hours. And not really sure if he would simply step on her if she refused, Artemis accepted with little complaining.

When the other humans finally woke up, it was almost ten thirty. "Finally. I thought you guys would sleep all day!" After Rachet had confined her to a bed, the archer had pulled out her arrows and started inspecting and fixing the ones that needed it. A grand total of eighty-three arrows were spread out around her in neat piles. Raf yawned, fixed his glasses and came closer to see what she was doing. She adjusted a blunt head before placing it in a pile of similar heads.

"What are you doing?" Raf asked curiously. Artemis smiled at him and made room for him to sit.

"Arrow inventory and repairs. I couldn't remember which types of arrows I used and GA would have my head it I didn't look over them after a fight." She explained. Miko and Jack came over to investigate and soon Artemis was explaining exactly what each arrow did and why it needed to be fixed. Finally all her arrows were in fighting shape and she knew which one needed to be replaced. The archer packed up and after a few moments the Autobots entered through the main door.

"Are you ready to return home?" Optimus asked. His formal way of speaking brought on flashbacks about Aqualad, but Artemis squashed down the home sick feeling. The humans nodded and Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Smokescreen transformed. Jack, Miko and Raf all rushed toward their guardian, but Artemis was hesitant. The Prime nodded for her to go on, and she climbed in the passenger seat. The drove in silence for a while before Artemis snapped.

"So does being a car inhibit speaking for you guys?" She quipped leaning back and folding her arms. Smokescreen let out something similar to a scoff.

"Actually, the only thing that this form inhibits is having you fleshlings stare at us." He said, slightly offended by her sarcastic tone.

"Well if subtly was what you were going for, I must say that you have failed miserably on that front my friend. The giant 38 on the side is a bit of an eye catcher." She responded evenly. They were about half way back to Artemis' house at that point and to be honest a great deal of people had stopped what they were doing to get a better look at Smokescreen.

"The humans are just appreciating my style. And being an eye catcher is way different then being an alien robot." Artemis flicked her head to the side in agreement.

"Alright I'll give you that. And I suppose none of the others are all that inconspicuous out here." They lapsed into another silence though this one was a tad more comfortable than before. They were about to enter the merge lane that would take them back to Jasper when Artemis spoke again. "So who's faster, you or Arcee?" She grinned.

"I was built for speed. There's no way that bike can beat me in a fair race." Artemis leaned forward and leaned her elbows on the arm rests.

"Prove it." She chalenged. Smokescreen veered off the ramp that would take them back into town, and headed for the long stretch of road that disappeared into the desert.

"With pleasure, my lady." As they drove their speed increased, faster and faster untill they were pushing 215 mph. All the while Artemis smiled like a maniacal clown and even let out a few whoops of joy. They rolled down the windows, and the wind blew the blonde's hair wildly as she leaned her face out of the car. The adrenaline rush the speed was giving her was like ecstasy. She hadn't felt this good since her last patrol with Green Arrow. The patrol that went so horribly, horribly wrong.

_The night was young and the Arrow's were both hungry for some action. Star City had been quiet for the past three days, with barely a mugging or even a bar fight to be had. And while the lack of crime was great, it was incredibly boring for a superhero. Artemis and Green Arrow were perched on top of a Star Labs facility, simply watching over their quiet city. Eventually Green Arrow got bored._

_"So who do you think would win in a fight? Superboy or Aqualad?" Artemis shot him a death glare._

_"Are you really asking me to compare my teammates like that?" She asked. GA shrugged._

_"What? It's not like we have something better to be doing right now!" Artemis somehow made her glare even angrier. But after another two minutes of silence and absolutely no activity, she sighed and gave in._

_"Aqualad. He's better trained, more precise and won't lose his temper and do something stupid... Flash or Wonder Woman." Green Arrow chuckled._

_"Depends how pissed you've managed to make Flash. Guy could probably take on half the Justice League and win if you manage to get him angry enough to use all of his power." Artemis sat down on the edge of the building and let her legs dangle over the side. Then her face became much more sinister looking._

_"So are you and Bats in that half?" Her mentor paused a moment in mock consideration._

_"That would be a no. One, because I am far to charismatic to get someone that mad, or at least smart enough not to get in the middle of it, and two, because Bats would cheat to take him out and I would cleverly hide behind him untill Flash was unconscious." He said and was rewarded with a genuine laugh from his protegé. She rarely laughed at his jokes and it was a nice treat when she did._

_"Common sense over skill huh?" She smiled. They continued the same line of questioning, untill an alarm went off on Oliver's belt. A robbery of the Star City museum of Natural History was in progress. Artemis felt a rush of adrenaline course through her in anticipation for the inevitable fight. They bolted across roof tops, with grace and agility, reaching their destination within minutes. The heroes watched a group of black clad thugs work through the skylight. As soon as the bad guys rounded a corner, GA made a large hole in the glass and repelled down a rope, closely followed by Artemis. The crept silently after the thieves, who didn't show any realisation that the heroes were stalking them. Finally, the villains stopped at the Rocks and Minerals exhibit. After breaking the lock, they moved inside. Artemis and her mentor paused a moment to string an arrow each. Artemis could feel her right leg start to bounce as they followed. The anticipation was starting to get to her. _

_Inside the exhibit, thousands of gemstones and other precious metals gleamed as flashlights swept over them. The leader of the masked men, walked purposely toward the prize of the museum's rock collection. A sparkly gem known as the Tiger's Eye Diamond. While in fact, it was not a diamond and a part of it's own family, it was still extremely valuable and rumored to be part of set, which combined could spell disaster for the free world. In any case, Green Arrow decided that the sneaking around portion of their job was finished. _

_"Elementary my dear Adler," He whispered, their code for 'I'm going to go ahead and hit someone with something now.' The code used to be 'Elementary my dear Watson,' but since Roy walked out on Ollie, it was changed to Alder to represent Artemis. (Aparently Black Canary was Mycroft for some odd reason.) His arrow went soaring for the head thief's hands, and at the last second, the arrow head split and a grappling rope spun itself around his wrists. The man cursed under his breath while the others pulled out their guns. Artemis sent her own arrow flying and it knocked the guns away from their owners. She engaged the closest man in hand to hand and quickly dispatched him. Half of the others closed in on her while the leader struggled with the rope binding his hands. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a man creep up behind Ollie. There was something in his hand that caught the light. Artemis called her mentor's name as the knife came crashing down toward his neck. Green Arrow turned and-_

"KID! KID YOU THERE?" Smokescreen called. Artemis shook her head to clear it and noticed that they had stopped driving and were parked in a valley that was almost completely surrounded by tall rocks.

"What is it?" She asked. Smokescreen let out an impatient huff.

"You spaced out on me. I've been calling your name for like three minutes! What's up?"

"I was just thinking. Anyways why did we stop?" At her question, Smokescreen grinned internally.

"because I wanted to know if you wanted to see what else I could do." She smirked her trademark smirk and cracked her knuckles.

"Let's see what you got then!" After double checking they were out of sight and no one was going inadvertently wander in on them, Smokescreen let Artemis hop out of the passenger seat and he transformed. His servos became blasters and his grin excited. With expert accuracy, he fired into the rock cluster making a thirty-eight pattern in the rock. Artemis raised her eyebrows, impressed. "Not too bad hotshot." But because she was nothing if not competitive, and the archer snatched up her bow and quiver from the ground and loaded an arrow. She drew back the string and took careful aim. The arrow was released and it flew straight and true. The moment it collided with its target, it released smaller explosives in a domino effect. When the dust settled, there was a perfect outline of the arrow symbol she wore on the rock beside Smokescreen's thirty-eight. The bot whistled low in his throat.

"Not too bad yourself kid. How'd you get your little stick to do that?"

"Okay this is an arrow not a stick. To call this a stick is like calling your alt mode a hippie van got it?" She said waspishly. Smokescreen gave her a look but nodded.

"Ok. You're not a sidekick and you don't have sticks. Got it." Her triumphant smile returned.

"And this was a birthday present from a boy wonder I know who seems to think I like publicity as much as him. The little troll." She added under her breath.

"So what else you packing?" The bot asked with a raised eyebrow. Artemis mimicked the look perfectly.

"You first hotshot."

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was spent pleasantly, with the human and Cybertronian demonstrating their skills and trying to top each other. They talked, but it was closer to bantering then actual conversation. That was of course just fine for both of them and it became quickly apparent that being partners wasn't the worst thing that could have happened. Finally after Artemis insisted that they wipe away all evidence of their presence there, (though not before she snapped a few pictures of their rock art on her phone) they departed back for Artemis' house. They arrived around five o'clock and Smokescreen parked in the alleyway behind her house.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" She said sounding a bit more chalant then she would have hoped.

"Why? Eager to see me again?" He smirked. The hot headed archer smacked his hood with the back of her hand.

"More like hanging out with you is better then hanging around my house all day." She snapped back, but with no hostility in her voice. Smokescreen smiled to himself.

"I'll pick you up at nine then." She nodded before he drove back to base.

"See you tomorrow then." She whispered to herself. She let herself in through the back and assured her mother that she wasn't in any trouble and, expertly hiding her bandaged side from her, Artemis slipped into her own room and then down to her sanctum. The Goddess Cave was well lit and made her feel comfortable and at home. She had moved some chairs and an old couch down there as well, just to make it a bit more comfortable. Sitting down on a chair, she gingerly unwrapped her side. It was a very shallow cut, and the steroids were doing their job. She opted to leave the stitches in, and gently put on clean bandages. Before her mother could call her up for dinner, Artemis wrote down everything she knew about the Autobots, M.E.C.H. and the Decepticons, (Though she knew very little about the 'Cons) in a small leather-bound book. She had done the same thing when she first heard about the League, and it was extremely helpful when the Team had to fight them last December.

"Sometimes Bat-paranoia isn't such a bad thing." She muttered to herself. She hid the book in her quiver and went upstairs to help her mom with dinner. Afterwards, when she was just about to fall asleep, she couldn't help but feel excited to see her new friends again in the morning.

* * *

Thanks for reading! I know this is a few days late, but my exam schedule screwed with everything else in my life! But it's here now! Thank you so much to those you who reviewed, favorited, followed and those who simply read it! It means a great deal to me! Tell me what you thought and what you might want to see next! Next update should be in a week or less! :D


	5. A Little Extra Human in The Human Factor

So did anyone else cry during this morning's YJ episode? I feel like someone decided to rip out my heart and put it in a blender! Anyways, read, review and enjoy!

* * *

Artemis' life had completely changed in two short days. Every morning, at precisely seven thirty, Smokescreen would arrive at Artemis' house and after kissing her mother goodbye and promising not to do anything overly dangerous, the young archer would fly through the opened passenger door, (or sometimes the opened window if they were feeling adventurous,) and they would go on a nice long drive before school started. Often times they would tell each other stories, or at least Smokescreen would tell stories and Artemis would listen with great attention. Though sometimes Artemis would tell Smokescreen of her old team and the missions they used to go on. But on the rare occasion, they would simply drive, and enjoy the silence.

When it was time for Artemis to go to school, the Autobot would let her off a block or two away and she would walk the rest of the way to avoid drawing too much attention. After school she would wait with Jack, Raff and Miko for their respective guardians to come and then they'd all head back to base to hang out there. She would usually wear something close to her costume and had stashed a mask and costume, bow and fully stocked quiver in Smokescreen's trunk. It wasn't exactly like being back in Gotham or Starling, but it was close enough for Artemis. On Thursday, two day before Ollie, Roy and the Team were set to arrive, things got a little hectic.

* * *

Miko and Ratchet were trying to convince Bulkhead to keep working at his physio when Smokescreen and Artemis came in.

"When what? You guys will need an assist? Isn't that what the new guy is for?" Bulkhead asked moodily. The blonde, who had been sitting in the groove between Smokescreen's neck and shoulder armor, jumped off and climbed the stairs to stand with Miko.

"Hey Bulkhead, I've been thinking," Smokescreen said holding up the armor as the archer joined Miko. "With your injury and all, you might want to take advantage of the armor I snagged from Starscream. Instant muscle suit!" The girls cringed as Bulkhead's face contorted in anger.

"You think I need a crutch?!" He demanded, slapping the Apex Armor away. Artemis and Miko ducked as it went flying toward the console below them. It fizzled from the impact.

"BULKHEAD! I NEEDED THAT!" Ratchet yelled, fussing over his equipment. Miko covered a snicker and Artemis raised an eye brow.

"Out of my way rookie!" The green Autobot said, roughly pushing past Smokescreen and starting with his physio.

"He can walk!" Smoke teased. Artemis rolled her eyes and leaned over the bar.

"Well that's one way to get a guy to work out again. When Canary wants the Team to train, she has to bribe us." She told Miko.

"I think he's fit for duty already!" Ratchet glared at the newest Autobot and started muttering something neither human could understand, but could guess it was not something they supposed to. Miko grinned at him and shot him a thumbs up. Smokescreen walked over to Artemis while Miko went to see what Jack and Raff were talking about over the phone.

"So who's Starscream?" She asked, watching Bulk do his workout.

"Bad news. He was a Decepticon before he betrayed Megatron a few times and went solo."

"And Megatron is the leader right?" Artemis said trying to remember who was who. Smokescreen nodded.

"You got it kid. But old Screamer is less than a match for me!" The archer kicked him, though it didn't do much.

"You keep telling yourself that hotshot." Just then, the doors to the elevator opened and Agent William Folwer walked in looking sour and stood beside Artemis.

"Prime! We have a situation." Optimus and the others all walked into the room, and Bulkhead abandoned his ball. Arty walked over to where the other kids were standing.

"What is the problem Agent Folwer?" Prime asked.

"Did someone shove that stick farther up your ass?" Artemis muttered earning a smack from Jack and a giggle from Miko.

"At 16:30 hours, a satellite was stolen from a high security military vault. Surveillance shows the Decepticon known as Breakdown at the scene." He said calmly, pulling up the tapes.

"Haven't seen him in a while!" Bulkhead pointed out.

"Which one is he?" Artemis whispered to Jack.

"He's Bulky's arch enemy!" Miko replied excitedly.

"We haven't seen him in a really long time though. We all thought he was off-line." Jack added.

"I look like Breakdown entered the base in vehicle mode," Folwer continued playing another clip. "With someone behind the wheel."

"A Decepticon paired with a human?!" Ratchet exclaimed.

"And I have a pretty good idea who. The stolen satellite was project Damocles." Artemis whipped her head away from the screen to glare at Folwer.

"Invented by Silas." Optimus said.

"I thought you had it well protected! That it wouldn't be able to fall into the wrong hands!" Artemis hissed. Fowler simply shrugged.

"I guess the former Colonel Bishop wanted it back."

"Well we're screwed." Artemis muttered. Bumblebee made a whirring noise.

"Yeah, I thought Silas was paste." Arcee pointed out.

"So did I." Fowler shrugged.

"Rule number one, if there's no body, their probably alive." Artemis pointed out, shaking her head. "And even when they are dead, they can probably find a way back."

"Agent Fowler, even if he were alive, are you suggesting that Silas has allied M.E.C.H with the Decepticons? I highly doubt Megatron would entertain such an idea!"

"Why not?" Artemis asked looking around.

"The human-bot alliance works for us." Jack pointed out.

"Most of the time." Arcee added. Artemis raised an eyebrow but decided against asking about it. Bumblebee also looked confused.

* * *

Agent Bishop looked around at the damage. Burnt corpses littered the floor, but thankfully the computers were still in perfect working order. Bishop ordered his technicians to start downloading the files while he examined the bodies. Marr had sent him to investigate when the project leader that was in charge of getting Silas back on his feet never checked in. While he was extremely annoyed by the tone she used to give him the order, he was secretly pleased he got the opportunity to scope out the scene before anyone could meddle with it. He was hoping to find Silas, and be there by his side when he retook control over M.E.C.H, but was disappointed to learn that he had abandoned them. But it wasn't the end of the world. All it meant was that Bishop would have to accelerate his plans. Soon the whole world would be trembling at his feet.

"Sir, I have the results from the DNA tests you requested back at the base." A voice said over the intercom. Bishop smiled.

* * *

"So what is Project Damocles?" Jack asked.

"Damocles is a particle beam weapon so powerful, it could cut up the pentagon like a birthday cake, or give everyone on Mount Rushmore a mohawk. All from a satellite in space." Fowler explained.

"It was a joint project between the Justice League and the government. But when the League realized just how powerful a weapon they created, they demanded that it be locked up and never used." Artemis added.

"How do you know that?" Smokescreen asked, giving her a curious look.

"My friend and I may or may not have been bored one day during Calculus, and decided to hack into some Government files." She replied sheepishly. Smokescreen laughed, but Fowler looked less then amused.

"Remind me to update our technological security. The Cons may have the satellite, but they can't use it without the interface codes. The only copy is in Colorado."

"We must keep the codes out of Decepticon hands at all costs." Optimus said, turning to go. Bulkhead grinned and looked excited, but visibly deflated when Ratchet told him he wasn't allowed to go. Artemis looked at her guardian hopefully.

"I'm guessing you want to come?" The mask was already overtop her face.

"That's not going to happen. It's far too dangerous." Arcee said, giving both robot and human a stern look.

"I've done far worse." Artemis said with a glare. Arcee put a hand on her hip.

"Maybe, but you have no idea what you're dealing with here. You're staying here." Her tone made it clear this wasn't up for debate and Smokescreen gave her a sympathetic look. The Groundbridge fired up and the Autobots left.

"Whoa! What is that thing?" Artemis asked.

"A Groundbridge. It's like a huge teleporter." Jack explained. Artemis' eyes went wide.

"Really." Before she could ask any more questions about it, the sounds of a battle echoed over the comm. link.

"Ratchet, we require backup!" Came Prime's voice.

"I'm there!" Both Bulkhead and Artemis said at the same time. Ratchet pulled them both back.

"Can you remotely disable project Damocles under Agent Fowler's advisement?" Prime asked.

"On a human based network, without my back up, without Rafael?"

"Hey Arty, wanna take a trip through the Groundbridge?" Jack grinned.

"Don't call me Arty." She grabbed her quiver and bow. "Let's go!" The bridge glowed green again, and the humans made their way through.

* * *

If given a choice, Artemis would never pick Groundbridging over going through Zeta tubes. Going through the Groundbridge was absolutely nothing like travelling by Zeta. This type of teleportation made her want to throw up. Instead of the tingly feeling the Zeta radiation gave her, this felt much closer to have her molecules being rearranged. It wasn't pleasant to say the least. As she, Jack, Miko and Fowler walked into the youngest boy's room, Raff looked slightly alarmed.

"What are you guys doing here?" He whispered yelled.

"Son your planet needs you." Fowler said handing Raff the project files.

"And I need to hurl." Artemis muttered, clutching her bare stomach. Raff took the file and started typing away at his computer.

"I'm in. But I can't reach the targeting systems. Too many fire walls."

"Come on son, if the Cons get hold of the codes-"

"Everything's going to be going boom!" Miko cried, waving her arms around.

"Let them have the code! It won't do them any good without the satellite!"

"I can't say I follow..." Folwer said.

"All satellites have mauvering thrusters so they can adjust their orbits. If I can break into the navigation subroutine, I can bring the whole satellite down!"

"Great! Say which way to the bathroom?" Everyone gave the Agent a weird look. Well except for Artemis, who was still trying to settle her stomach.

"What? No! If my mom sees you!"

"Relax, I trained with covert ops."

"I don't care if you were trained by ninjas, my mom has eyes in the back of your head!" Raff said. Artemis groaned and looked at him.

"If you were trained by three ninjas, can you go?" She asked. Everyone raised an eyebrow. "What? I've had ninjitsu training from Batman, Robin and Cheshire who are all ninjas." Raff decided to let her go.

* * *

About five minutes after Artemis returned from the bathroom feeling far better, there were the sounds of crunching metal. Everyone clambered to the window to see what was happening. A green SUV was pushing a blue one down the street.

"I'm assuming that's Breakdown?" Artemis guessed.

"But what's Bulk doing out here! Ratchet said he wasn't clear for duty yet!" Miko said worry etched onto her face. The heroine was already strapping her quiver to her back.

"Not sure. But he'll have back up."

"Oh no you don't. What part of low profile don't you understand?"

"I'm pretty sure if people were to stumble upon us, they'd be more concerned with the giant robots then the girl firing arrows. And I'll be in stealth mode ok?" She told him changing her green suit to grey with a tap to her sigil. "Besides, he's gonna need help." Fowler looked like he was having an internal debate, but the archer had already gone out the window and started running down the street. She got there just as Bulkhead smashed into a concrete wall and fell to his knees. Without breaking her stride, the blonde whipped out an explosive arrow and sent it flying for Breakdown's face plates. It made contact and went off with a tremendous bang, cause the mech to stumble back a step or two. Bulkhead used the distraction to rush him. He didn't quite as much of a punch as Artemis' arrows, however and Breakdown caught his fist.

"Slow reaction time, you're favoring your right side." Bulkhead continued to swing his fist and blocked any shot Artemis had. She was starting to get annoyed, but didn't tell Bulkhead to get out of the way. After all the Con seemed to have forgotten her, and it gave her the element of surprise at least. "Legs are weak." And Bulkhead was thrown backwards.

"I'll show you weak." Bulkhead yelled, but was once again thrown backwards. This was when Artemis re-announced her presence.

"Hey tin head!" She called, releasing one webbing arrow and one explosive arrow. Both connected, but the webbing wasn't strong enough to hold the titan and the explosive one only sent him backwards a few centimeters. The glowing yellow eyes turned in her direction. His shoulder cannon charged up, and she was forced to roll out of its path. Once she was right side up again, she fired a few more bombs in the robot's direction. While they all hit their mark, the Con was ready for them this time and simply dug his feet into the ground as he advanced upon her.

"You should have stayed home, little girl." He said as he drew nearer. But just as he was about in stomping range, there was a familiar revving sound and Smokescreen kicked the other mech in the chest, sending him into the dirt. Bulkhead, who had been trying to stand looked over.

"Assist. It's what the new guy's for!" Smokescreen smiled.

"Uh guys." Artemis said, drawing their attention to the fact Breakdown was right beside them.

"One new guy to another, this is your final day on the job!" And his hammer came down in between the Bots. With the tag-team action of Smokescreen and Bulkhead, with Artemis provided additional support where needed, Breakdown was quickly knocked out. Artemis grinned and sent three foam arrows toward his hammer hand. They exploded and trapped it. Just then, they noticed a flaming object falling from the sky.

"Looks like someone's big plan just burned up in re-entry!" And the Bots high-fived.

"And for the record, I studied every single one of the Wreckers battles!"

"There's hope for you yet newbie. You too Arty. Nice distracting." Artemis gave one of her biggest grins to date. As she was about to say something clever, the sound of a Groundbridge cut her off, and when they turned, Breakdown was already fleeing the area. His hammer still had bits of green foam stuck to it.

"I think I need to update my arsenal." She muttered. Smokescreen smiled and transformed.

"Come on kid. Let's go home."

* * *

Once she had assured Smokescreen, Bulkhead, Optimus, Ratchet and Fowler she was fine, that her side didn't hurt at all and that her only injuries were a few scratches, the blonde was dropped back home. This time she used the front entrance since it was almost midnight, and her mother should have been asleep. The custom sports car drove away and she fitted the key in the lock and quietly tip-toed into her kitchen to grab a snack. The lights were off so she didn't bother changing out of her somewhat grimy clothes and simply grabbed an orange. Using the same techniques she had used to sneak into Raf's bathroom, she crept towards her room and then into her Goddess Cave. She went down the elevator while she peeled the fruit. When the doors slid open she saw two dark figures sitting at her computer. Silently pulling out her bow, she snuck up behind them. Just as she was about to one over the head with her weapon, the lights flickered on and a scowling red head turned and glared at her.

"Were you going to smack me with that?" Roy growled, looking particularly pissed off. Artemis' eyes bugged out as a blonde man with a stupid beard walked up to her. His strong arms caught her in a hug.

"Roy. Ollie. You guys are early." She mumbled into his chest, an uneasy feeling creeping into her gut.

* * *

And that was my rendition of Human Factor. I hope you enjoyed! I'd like to give a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed followed and favorited! I'm so happy you guys like my story! :D The next chapter should be up in about a week! :D


	6. Too Much Waiting and Surprise Meetings

_Just so you guys know this takes place a few months after New Years!_

* * *

_Roy, Ollie. You're early. She mumbled into his chest, an uneasy feeling creeping into her gut._

Artemis' heart sped up considerably. She had no clue how her sometimes overly protective mentor and angsty predecessor would react to her looking like she fell out of a tree. Technically speaking she shouldn't have been in costume at all. As Ollie released her from the hug, she felt Roy's scrutinizing eyes scanning her.

"Why do you look like you were dragged through the underbrush?" Roy asked suspiciously. He sounded annoyed but Artemis knew him well enough to know he was worried too.

"Oh uh, I was chasing after a cat..." She explained lamely. Roy narrowed his glare but Oliver shook his head.

"We have to get you into some acting classes when you get back." He murmured, but didn't press her. Artemis laughed and pulled Roy into his own hug.

"So what are you guys doing here?" She asked releasing the grumpiest archer.

"We were on a League mission nearby and decided to stop by a day early. When we got here, your mother said you were out with friends. So we came down here to wait." Green Arrow explained. Roy scoffed.

"And then when you weren't back by ten, Ollie nearly had an aneurism thinking you were with a guy or something." Roy complained. Artemis chuckled, while Oliver denied everything.

"Don't worry Ollie, I already have a boy remember?"

"Don't remind me." Oliver muttered. After a few more minutes of playful banter, Artemis couldn't suppress her yawns and the eldest archer ordered his kids to bed.

* * *

The next morning, the blonde haired beauty woke up considerably more sore then yesterday. Several dark bruises had blossomed over her stomach and arms. Despite the warm weather she pulled on a long sleeved shirt to hide the marks from her mother. Ever since they moved out here, Paula had been overly protective. If she were to see the painful marks, she would probably ground Artemis for the entire month. When she walked into the kitchen, her mother and Ollie were already drinking coffee and enjoying breakfast.

"Good morning Artemis. You got in late last night." Paula pointed out with a raised eyebrow. Artemis shrugged and bored herself a bowl of cereal.

"Study group at Raf's house." She supplied. Oliver snapped his paper once, but didn't say anything.

"Well hurry up, and eat your breakfast. If you're late for school and get a detention, I'm not bailing you out because the Team is coming over tonight." Paula was not overjoyed at the Team's visit. After all, their presence was going to draw attention and if the wrong people found out where her daughter was hiding, it would mean the end of their family.

"Don't worry I'm going, I'm going! See you after school Ollie!" She smiled before running out the door. A few blocks away Smokescreen was waiting in his usual spot.

"Heya kiddo. Ready for a stimulating day at school?" Smokescreen joked. Artemis rolled her eyes and plucked her bow from his back seat. Gently strumming the strings she gazed out the window.

"I'm ready for it to be over! I have some friends from Gotham coming over for the weekend!" She smiled with a huge grin.

"So how much do these friends know?" Smokescreen asked nonchalantly.

"About life? Surprising little. About you guys? Absolutely nothing. About my double life and the League? Way too much." His engine revved in his version of a nod and they continued to take the long way to school.

"So do I get to meet them?" He asked trying to sound casual.

"Not sure. I'm the worst liar I've ever met and I have no way to explain why I suddenly have a kick ass car when we could barely afford groceries in Gotham." Smokescreen thought about it.

"Why don't you tell them it's a present from your dad or something." Artemis looked at her shoes and made an odd choking noise. "Kid? You okay?" She didn't answer for a moment.

"Because my dad died a few months ago." She breathed out, somewhere in between a sigh and a mumble.

"Oh geez, kid! I'm sorr-"

"Don't be. He was a terrible father and an even worse human being. I think his body count is higher then the population of this town."

"So um. How did it happen?" Smokescreen asked awkwardly, feeling like an idiot for bringing it up.

"He came to warn me. He told me that if I didn't get out of Gotham and lay low for a while, bad things would happen. At first I thought he was threating me, you know? That's his usual M.O. But when I accused him of it, he got all offended and upset. We were the only two home, so we weren't afraid to yell. I told him I wasn't the ignorant little girl he could manipulate anymore and then he said, and I quote; 'Dammit Artemis, don't you know I know that? Why can't you and Jade realize I'm trying to protect here? Why don't either of you realize I love you?' I was kinda shell shocked, so I just let him tell me why I had to get out. The he actually hugged me."

"Isn't that normal for most human families?" Smokescreen asked, noting how many times Miko would throw her arms around one of the boys or Bulkhead's finger.

"Being raised by an assassin is not normal. Neither is hugging in my family. Only mom was ever fond of that. Anyways he hugged me and told me that he would help me fake my death so that I could go into hiding... and that's when it fell apart. Our lights went out, even though I know we paid the bills. Dad starting yelling for me to get behind him. I ignored him and hit the back-up generator and when the lights were on again, there were all these men in the apartment. Most of them had covered faces, but the few that didn't had an almost ridiculous amount of scars. They said I could either go with them or they would take me. Dad got mad and started attacking them. We fought them off for a while, but one of them got in a lucky hit and cracked him over the head and he went down. They probably would have gotten me if mom hadn't come home with Green Arrow. They destroyed the generator and got out. But not before they grabbed Dad too." Artemis finished drawing her knees up to chest. They were ten minutes away from the school now.

"Well maybe they didn't kill him..." Smokescreen suggested, trying to get his archer to stop looking so desolate.

"The police found a body matching his description in the harbor." She said dryly. Then she sighed. "It was Batman who suggested we move out here. I wanted to stay and avenge his death and told him that. Which, is when he kicked me off the Team. Something about not having my head in the game."

"I'm not quite sure what to say." Smokescreen admitted. To his relief, she smiled a bit and put her legs down.

"Yup. I win on the old dramatic story front every time. Anyways, it's not like he was the most stand up guy. Half the time he was trying to kill my friends and the other half was spent blackmailing me." Smokescreen didn't have a reply for that so he suddenly kicked up the speed and the raced down the street, going forty miles over the limit untill they almost reached the school. Artemis thanked him and jumped out of the seat. Just as she was about to close the door, Smokescreen spoke.

"I am sorry about your dad."

"Yeah me too big guy. See you after school!" And her blonde pony tail was whipping out of sight.

* * *

The school day passed agonizingly slow. And when things went to slowly for Artemis, she got twitchy. Every time someone made a noise behind her, the archer's hand would reach for her back and grab a nonexistent arrow from an invisible quiver. Her new friends noticed her extreme jumpiness and commented on it at lunch.

"Are you okay 'Mis? You're kinda jumpy today." Raf pointed out before taking a bite of sandwich. Artemis quickly glanced over her shoulder, proving his point and sighed.

"I know. I'm just excited." She said. Thinking about seeing the Team she dearly missed made a giddy feeling take over her normally reserved disposition.

"What for? Is there a concert I don't know about?" Miko asked, getting excited with the blonde.

"Actually some friends of mine from Gotham are coming out to visit!" She told them, a large smile creeping onto her face. The appearance of a redheaded bully quickly wiped it off.

"You have friends outside these losers Crock? I didn't know freaks could have friends. They must be just as messed up as you." Vince sneered as a group of his lacky's surround the picnic table the quartet was sitting.

"Shove off Vince." Jack told him. After using one of Conner's anger management techniques Artemis retorted herself.

"Besides, it's not like the company you keep is so much more posh. Why don't you look at yourself before you go around insulting people you don't even know?" Miko laughed, and Jack and Raf smiled, Raf giving the blonde a high-five under the table.

"At least my friends aren't criminals. Everyone knows that the entire population of Gotham are villains. I wouldn't be surprised if your mom is a cripple because she fell off a building she robbed." Maybe it was because Vince was more right then he knew, maybe it was the smug look on his face, maybe it was because she was already adrenaline filled, but the regardless of why, the next thing everyone knew was Vince was on the ground, clutching his bleeding nose and Artemis was snarling above him.

"Don't you **ever** talk about my mother like that again." She hissed in a quiet whisper. Jack, Raf and Miko stared, not sure whether to approach the blonde or to let her be. She turned around and started to head back toward them, when Vince opened his fat mouth again.

"I knew it. Freak." He spat. This time, Artemis let people she her hit him. Once again on the nose, one left hook and a right jab, and Vince was left with a nose pumping blood, a split lip and an ugly bruise already forming on his cheek. For a time no one moved. The only noise was Vince dramatically wailing about his face. Then Miko threw her arms around Artemis' shoulders and hugged her.

"That was so cool! Can you teach me that?" She squealed. The blonde pealed her off and smiled gently. A teacher was drawn by Vince's calls and looked appalled at the scene.

"What on earth happened here?" He demanded.

"Vince was insulting my family so I hit him. Then he didn't learn from his mistake so I hit him a few more times." Artemis explained calmly. Back at Gotham Academy, it was policy that if you had a good reason for starting a fight you wouldn't get into as much trouble, but she had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't the case here.

"You broke my nose!" Vince howled.

"Oh don't be a baby. You deserved it."

"Miss. Crock! This is not how we deal with our issues here!"

"But sir, he was saying terrible things! I think everyone here would have hit him!" Miko protested. Artemis flashed her a quick grateful smile.

"That doesn't give her permission to use violence! Detention after school Miss. Crock. You too Mr. Raider. Now all of you get to class." Artemis didn't even repress her loud groan. Now her had to wait an extra hour. Perfect.

* * *

Smokescreen arrived back at base a little earlier then the others, since Artemis got out a few blocks away. The silo's only occupant was Rachet as Optimus and Bulkhead had gone for a drive. The medic was doing some calibrating of his tools, leaving the computer wide open. Trying to seem undisturbed, (Didn't he hear Artemis say 'turbed one time?) trying to seem 'turbed, the newbie headed for the console. Rachet was absorbed in his work and didn't notice. Smokescreen opened up a search engine and typed in 'Artemis Crock.' The results that showed up listed her as a recipient of the Wayne Scholarship at Gotham Academy and the results of a recent archery competition were listed as well. He tried a few different searches but came up with more or less the same thing. Next he tried searching for the Justice League and found a large amount of fan sites, none of them mentioning Artemis. Growing frustrated with the lack of results, he slammed his fists on the computer, just as the others arrived.

"Smokescreen! What are you doing?" Rachet demanded, scurrying over to make sure he hadn't wrecked something.

"Just doing a little research." Smokescreen replied. Optimus came over to see what he was doing.

"While I agree you should be trying to learn all you can about your human partner, I do not think it wise to invade on her personal life by researching her history." Smokescreen nodded and quickly exited the site he was on.

"Of course. I'm just worried. I'm not sure she left Gotham for a change in scenery." He explained. "Something she told me today and the way her and Fowler were interacting doesn't seem right." He told them a toned down version of what she'd told him.

"That doesn't sound good. Who do you think could be after her?" Bulkhead asked.

"No clue. That's why I was looking her up."

"Perhaps Agent Fowler will have some insight for us." Optimus suggest. Smokescreen nodded. He silently promised himself he would get to the bottom of this.

* * *

When the final bell rang, the poor archer nearly screamed in angst. A whole extra hour of wasted time was going to be torture. She had texted Roy and told him to tell the others she was going to be late. They just read the message over his shoulder since they had arrived at one forty-seven. When she explained why she had a detention, they collectively burst into uncontrollable laughter. Roy made sure their amusement was conveyed in the message and didn't reply again.

The detention room was room 206 and the walk over was like walking to prison. The others offered to wait with her, but she waved them off and told them to go meet their 'bots. The blonde entered and sat in the back corner. Inside the room already was a brunette wearing a pink cardigan, a ginger wearing a baseball cap low over his eyes, Vince, still clutching tissues to his face, and a boy with black hair that appeared to be asleep. Vince scowled at her and she smirked at him. The teacher walked and told them to be quiet, even though none of them were talking. Five minutes in, a crash was heard outside. The teacher rose, warned them to stay silent and went to investigate. The second the door shut, the brunette leaped from her seat and almost _flew_ to Artemis, catching her in the most bone crushing hug ever. Artemis tried to pull away and when she did, the brunette was no longer brunette. Instead M'gann's vibrant red hair and her perky smile was present. Artemis couldn't hold back a delighted smile and immediately hugged back.

"Oh my god, Megan!" All of a sudden the supply closet door opened and Wally and Kaldur walked through. Conner was the boy who Artemis had thought was sleeping and Roy had the cap on. A creaking sound from the air vents was heard and Robin the Boy Wonder fell gracefully from overhead and landed on a desk. Vince stood up and stumbled backwards.

"W-w-what-?" He stuttered. Most of the Team glared at him, but Artemis and Robin gave him evil smirks.

"Us freaks stick together." Robin said before vaulting off the desk and into Artemis' already waiting arms. While Vince backed away, the others hugged their missing archer and expressed how much they missed her.

"I missed you so much! But what you are you guys doing in detention?" Artemis asked, securely wrapped in her boyfriend's arms.

"Well we didn't miss you any less and an extra hour of waiting because you were defending our honor didn't seem very fair." Wally grinned pecking her lips. The contact sent a rush of tingly energy down her spine.

"And I'm assuming that the reason the teacher hasn't come back yet is your doing?" Robin grinned proudly.

"It's safe to say she's not coming back any time soon."

"Freaks." Vince muttered from the front of the room. Conner snapped his head to look at the ginger.

"Who are you calling a freak?" He snarled stomping up to the bully.

"You. Now get out of my face freak." Vince said, clearly not knowing of Conner's temper and super strength. Megan set up a mind link and Artemis suddenly whole, even though she didn't know she was missing a piece.

_"Ignoring him Conner." _Kaldur told him, trying to coax him back to his friends.

_"He's really not worth the effort." _Artemis added. Conner looked up at her with a raised eye brow.

_"Which explains why we're here in the first place." _He pointed out. Wally and Robin laughed.

_"Well he's not worth the effort right now." _She amended. Roy snorted aloud and thumped her shoulder.

"Well since I doubt the 'Man' will be back in time to dismiss us, what do you say we blow this joint?" Wally suggest, entwining his hand in the archers.

"Lead the way Baywatch."

"Just try to keep up Harpy." And with that, Vince was left very confused for another forty-five minutes.

* * *

This is so late and I apologize profusley for that! But it's out now so be happy! :D Now that I've finished my other stories (Or almost anyways,) I should have way more time to work on this one! :D :D Thank you so so much to anyone who reveiwed or farorited or followed! It's really touching to know that people actually care about what I write! Get ready for some OT6 love with the Team and protective guardians! :D See you soon!


	7. A Weekend Trip

"What do you mean there's only one fast food place in this enitre town?" Wally wailed, throwing his arms around his head. The speedster was near close to tears and the rest of the Team were trying to calm him down or restrain their laughter.

"What is the huge deal about? It's not like they serve crappy food." Roy complained, already having been to K.O. Burger. Wally gave him a disturbed look.

"Does it look like that place can feed me?" He demanded accusingly pointing his finger towards the offending restaurant.

"Oh would you stop being a baby? Get traught and feel the aster so the rest of us can feel whelmed already?" Dick rolled his eyes and started walking towards the joint. Conner and Roy were quick to follow him. M'gann and Kaldur waited with Artemis as she tried to consol her _dis_traught boyfriend.

"Just because you said that horrible string of words, NO!" Wally yelled back. Artemis groaned and lost her temper. With a sharp moment, her hand flew towards Wally's neck and pinched his presure point. The speedster would have collasped into the dirt, had M'gann not caught him with her telekinesis. She gave Artemis a disapproving look, and starting walking after the others, Wally in tow. Artemis grinned at Kaldur who was shaking his head.

"Come on Papa Fish, these guys have the best fries!" She laughed, grabbing his webbed hand and ran after the others.

* * *

It was far less busy today then it was when Artemis first went to meet the others, but a few table were filled with people. Dick, Roy and Conner had already gotten their food and M'gann was in the midst of placing Wally onto the seat next to Dick. Artemis pulled Kaldur up to the counter and grinned when she saw who the attendent was.

"Hey Jack! I didn't know you were working today." The black haired boy grinned at the blondes.

"I took an extra shift. I'm guessing this is one of your friends?" He asked sticking out his hand. Kaldur shook it and smiled warmly.

"I am Kaldur. It is nice to meet you." Jack smiled back.

"I'm Jack. What can I get you guys?" They ordered their food and promised to meet Jack when his shift was over. Both Kal and Artemis balanced three trays and manuvered their way back to the table. When they arrived, they discovered Wally had woken up.

"That. Was just plain mean." He told her. His scowl disapeared when Artemis placed six double cheese burgers in front of him. "But I could forgive you in time." The others laughed and dug into their own meals. Later, after Wally's third round of burgers, Jack got off work and the Team met him outside.

"Alright time for proper introductions. Jack, this is Kaldur, Roy, Conner, Megan, Rob and Wally. Guys, this is Jack." They exchanged greeting and handshakes like normal people. Then Miko and Raf showed up with Smokescreen, Bulkhead and Bumblebee. Miko bounded out and walked over with Raf right behind her. "And now I have to repeat that again."

"I think we're capable of saying our own names." Roy muttered, avoiding eye contact with Miko.

"Then say them Roy toy!" Artemis countered, slinging an arm around Raf's shoulders as he approached. Roy glared at her.

"Don't call me that. I'm Roy." The others went around introducing themselves and Miko and Raf told them their names as well.

"Well, we have some homework to finish. It was nice meeting you!" Jack said after a few plesentaries, heading toward the parking lot.

"What I don't have any- hey!" Jack placed his hands on Miko's shoulders and steered her away, Raf folowing.

"Bye guys, see you on Monday!" Artemis waved. Then she turned to the others. "So what did you guys have planned?" Robin and Kid Flash wore dasterdly smirks.

"Well, M'gann brought the Bio-Ship, and the Lotus Hotel and Casino is having a sale on rooms." Wally smirked. Kaldur had a tired look on his face, as though he could see the trouble they were going to get in.

"Did you guys seriously plan a weekend in Vegas?" Artemis tried to say it and sound exasperated, but ended up sounding far more excited.

"Yup! Now let's go before it get dark out!" Wally urged.

"Wait I need to pack!"

"No you don't. We got all your stuff before we crashed your dentention!"

"You did what now?" Robin merely cackled and led the way to a red van that was parked next to Smokescreen. When her friends all piled in, Artemis stoped to 'tie her shoe lace.'

"What's up Hotshot?" Artemis asked speaking into his tires.

"Just wanted to see you off. And I couldn't resist getting a peek at your friends. They don't look like they could be all that useful in a fight." Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Never let them hear that. Anyways I have to go! I'll see you on Monday okay?"

"Wait what? Prime said I need to be with you all the time." The blonde glared at him.

"I don't need a babysitter. Besides, my friends are with me. You'd have to be an idiot to try and attack us!"

"Since when were humans smart enough to use commen sense?" The archer punched a wheel.

"I'll be fine." She told him defiantly before jumping into the van. Smokescreen waited for a good twelve seconds before tailing after his ward. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, it was just he didn't have any faith in her friends.

* * *

While the outside was your typical mid sized sedan, the interior was still the familliar Bio-Ship. She sighed contentdly and sat in the front center seat inbetween Wally and Kaldur.

"So where's Zatanna and Raquel?" Artemis asked. She was surprised that Roy had shown but her two of her best girlfriends had remained at home.

"Their both really sorry they couldn't come, but Rocket had a family emergency and Zee said she had a gig. She may meet us when we get to Vegas though!" M'gann explained. She had shifted from caucasian back to green, something Artemis realized her had sorely missed seeing. Heck she had sorely missed all of the Team. The faint smell of salt and fresh fish that wafted off Kaldur when he was close to her, the sounds of Conner grunting in response to a yes or no question, the glint of sun reflected off of Robin's sunglasses, Roy's tedious tapping when ever he was bored, and Wally's firm hold on her hand. The ride to sin city was filled with catching up and story telling. Mainly the Team expressed how much they missed her and she told them how bored she was.

"You're bored really? Is that why you decided to go cat chasing?" Roy asked with narrowed eyes. Artemis subconiously put a hand over where she was bruised.

"Actually yeah. What about it?" She growled back.

"I don't buy it." He fired back folding his arms. M'gann suggested they drop it and enjoy the weekend, but was met with Roy's harsh glare.

"Yeah, and why's that?" Artemis felt the others scrutinize her as well.

"You hate cats. A lot." Wally pointed out. Artemis stuck her tounge out at him.

"Thanks a lot Baywatch! Fine I got into a little fight last night okay? It's nothing major so don't worry about it."

"Were you tracking that stolen power converter like I specifically told you not to do?" He accused.

"... You got me." Artemis said, glad for an answer that didn't involve revealing the Autobots to her Team. It wasn't that she didn't trust them, not at all, but she didn't think Folwer or Optimus would want the League to know about the alien's excistence.

"Artemis you know you're supposed to be hiding." Kaldur admonished. The archer gave him a nasty look.

"Why does no one think I can take care of myself?" She demanded. "It's not like I'm going looking for trouble, it just finds me." The Team's looks softened.

"We know it's hard for you babe, but we're worried about you." Wally soothed stroking her hand. She squeezed his back.

"I know. I worry for you guys too. Who's there to come up with witty comebacks without me?"

"I think that department is handled thank you very much!" Robin scoffed.

"Please. Your last insult involved nursery ryhmes." Conner complained. "And you used monkeys. I hate monkeys." M'gann laughed and got up to wrap him in a hug.

* * *

If the teens weren't in the Bip-Ship and could have seen out the back window, they would have noticed the conspicious car following them. While he was trying to blend in with the other traffic, subtlty was not exactly Smokescreen's strong suit, especially in his vehicle mode. That was something Rachet complained about everytime Somscreen had to get up in the middle of the night. After tailing the red van for about fifty miles, the 'Bot decided it would be a good idea to let Optimus know what was happening.

"Smokescreen to Base." He said over the comm.

"Smokescreen! Where the Pit are you?" Rachet demanded. "The others came back almost an hour ago!"

"Sorry 'bout that, I'm with Arty! I think we're heading to Vegas." Smokescreen suppiled.

"Vegas?! Why would you be going there? Turn around and come back to Base imediatly!"

"No can do. Artemis is off with friends and won't come back with me. Prime said I needed to stick with her so that's what I'm going to do. Let the others know for me would ya?" And while the medic spluttered and yelled, Smokescreen disconnected.

* * *

"Uh Megs, how fast are we going?" Wally asked a little while later. He had been starring out the window playing eye spy with Robin.

"One hundred and eighty five miles per hour. Why?" She asked. She hadn't really been paying attention, instead opting to gossip endlessly with Artemis and Roy. Roy was not very happy with her choice.

"Only because that would explain why we have two police cars following us with their lights on." Sure enough, the white and black cars were signalling for the van to pull to the side. The Team shot each other panicked looks while M'gann pulled over.

"Um, Meg, what exactly are the cops going to see when they look in the window?" Artemis asked, something telling her the officers were going to freak out if they saw the inside of a spaceship instead of a car.

"I'm not all that sure..." She admitted. Kaldur and Roy gave each other worried looks. Then an officer tapped on the window.

"What do we do?!" Wally cried dramatically. Conner rolled his eyes.

"I have a plan! Open a window M'gann!" Robin said confidently. The Martian gave him an uncertain look but complied.

"Do you have any idea how fast you were going?" An officer asked flipping through a notebook and not looking in the window.

"We're terribly sorry sir, we were looking at the Martian speed instead of the Earth speed." The sunglass clad boy told him. The rest of the Bio-Ship's occupents nearly sqwaked at him. The officer on the other hand ignored him. Instead he wrote up a ticket.

"I added an extra ten bucks for being cheeky. Watch your speed from now on." He adomished handing Robin the ticket.

"Will do. Have a nice day Officer." And he signalled for M'gann to roll up the window. After they started moving again, they all swivled in their seats to look at the Boy Wonder. "What?"

"How did you know that would work?" Conner asked.

"I didn't. He if did look at the inside, he probably would have thought he was going mad from the heat and let us off." He shrugged. There was a beat of silence before Artemis, Roy and Wally burst out laughing.

"You, are the world's worst troll, you know that?" Artemis told him fondly.

* * *

Los Vegas was the city of lights. Even when the sun had set, it was still bright enough to read in the middle of the night. When the Team, (And Smokescreen) arrived, it was already seven thirty and they decided to check into the hotel. It was large and lavish. Crystal chandilers hung from the ceiling and there was a fountain with a clay woman sitting in it's center. Wally, Rob, M'gann, Conner and Roy set about unloading the ship and Artemis and Kaldur went to check in.

"So what made you guys pick this place?" Artemis asked. Kaldur gave her a cyriptic smile.

"The entertainment is supposedly the best in the city." He smiled, paying the clerk. A porter took their bags and disapeared. The blondes joined the others and the group went for dinner. It was dinner and a show, featuring a magician. This gave Artemis a pang of longing as Zatanna wasn't with her to mock the wanna be magician. The food was delisious however and their table was dead center and front row. The lights dimmed after the food arrived and the show began.

_Ladies and Gentlemen... Welcome to the most astonding magic show in all of Vegas! Please put your hands together! _A voice boomed.

**Tropelet no egats!**

A fog wafted on stage and Zatanna Zatara appeared on stage in her usual costume. Artemis cheered loudly along with the others and caught the magacian's wink. The show was incredible, with real magic being done on stage and Robin being made to disapear halfway through the performance. The grand finale involved an entire zoo of animals being pulled from an audience member's hat. It was definalty worth the price of admission and more. After the audience had left and Zee had finished talking to her boss, she lept at her friends and encompassed Artemis in a bear hug.

"Arty! I missed you so much!" Zatanna yelled as Artemis laughed.

"I know I missed you too Zee! How come you didn't say you were working in Vegas?"

"Let's call it the need for a dramatic flair!" She giggled. The group decided to head up to their rooms shorty after. The girls' room was huge. A large living room and three bedrooms along with a huge bathroom was included and the furniture was rich. Everything looked expensive and dleicate to touch. It was the most fun any of the girls had messing up a hotel room.

* * *

The night was young and they had finished trashing their rooms, so the Team went out to sight see around the city. The bright lights were nearly blinding and whenever they walked past a bar, the (over)whleming smell of alchohol asaulted their nostrils. Artemis loved every second of it. The enitre Team grinned and smiled thoughout the whole night. Just being together again was like being whole again. Smokescreen tried to follow them, staying as close as he dared, but he eventually lost them an hour into their journey. He did find them again, during the highlight of the evening, right before they went back to the hotel. The girls were leading the way, arms linked and laughing like idiots. In fact, if you weren't sure, it would be easy to assume they were slightly more then tipsy. However they were simply punch drunk off hanging around with each other after such a long time. (Well long for them anyways.) They were giggling about some comparison between KF and Speedy Gonzales, when they decided to take a shortcut through an alley way. The boys, who were farther back momentairly lost sight of them. The alley was dark, but the girls weren't that worried. However when a hand shot out from nowhere and seized Zatanna's wrist, pulling her away from the others, then they had a quick moment of panic. Zatanna found herself pinned to the wall and the cool metal of something sharp pressed against the back of her neck.

"Well, what do we have here?" A gruff voice asked. Artemis and M'gann exchanged a look.

"The most over used and cliche situation any of us have ever been in?" Artemis tried. The amount of times this had happened was ridiculous. The thug stared at them before pressing his knife a little into Zatanna's skin.

"You think this is some kind of joke?" He demanded. M'gann shook her head and Artemis sighed. Zatanna started tapping her foot impatiently.

"It's kind of a sad joke." The magician muttered.

"Give me everything you have on you or your friend dies!" He said in a snarl.

"You hear that Megs? We wants everything." Artemis smirked.

"Then I say we give exactly what he's asking for!" M'gann smiled, eyes glowing.

"W-w-what?" The man stuttered, releasing Zee and staring at the Martian's now floating form. This was when Smokescreen happened to drive past the alley on a random search for his girl. Now the man was cowering at M'gann's feet while Artemis and Zatanna laughed out loud.

"You are horrible man! I should turn you eyebrows into caterpillars!" M'gann huffed sounding as unearthal as she could. The boys heard her booming voice and walked into the situation right beside Smokescreen.

"Should we help them?" Kaldur asked. Wally shook his head.

"Hell no! Someone film this!" He cried. Roy and Dick both had their phones out and Conner simply smirked.

"Now leave and if you ever try something like this again, I will find you!" M'gann cried. "GO!" She yelled after when the man didn't move. He shrieked and bolted away Smokescreen stared dumbstruck as the teenagers collapsed into an explosion of laughter.

"P-please t-ell me you g-got tha-at!" Zee gasped out, shaking with mirth. Robin held up a hand for a high five and had is slapped quickly. The Autobot left the group before he was noticed and went back to the hotel. He really didn't understand humans.

* * *

"So I have a question." Artemis told M'gann as they packed to go home on Sunday. They had an amazing time, though the bill they racked up for the rooms was a tad extreme, and that wasn't even including the shows they attended. But since Batman and Oliver agreed to pay for everything, the kids didn't really mind. In fact the only thing they didn't like about the trip was leaving. It was hard to say goodbye again. But all things must come to an end.

"Shoot." M'gann said, packing her suitcase with her telekinisis.

"Have you ever heard of Cybertronians?" The alien gave her blonde friend a strange look.

"How do you..." She questioned.

"I hacked some files a while ago and forgot to ask, you know, with everything going on. Do you know anything about them?"

"Mostly bedtimes stories. My mother used to tell us of the planet that was inhabited by robots and how they had an advanced and beautiful civilisation. But the evil Megatron greed and corruption resulted in a civil war that ended up destroying their planet... rumor has it, that my mother named me after Megatron." She added quietly. Artemis pulled M'gann into a hug.

"That. Is a stupid and untrue rumor. You are a hero." She said pointedly. M'gann nodded and smiled at her. "And thanks for the info. I was getting curious." She added and the girls finished packing.

* * *

Saying goodbye was awful. Oliver would be staying an extra day, but the others were all headed home right away. Paula and Ollie stood inside the kitchen while the others hung out on the front porch.

"Why can't I come with you?" The archer whined. Roy pulled her ponytail and scowled at her.

"The whole, people want to kidnap you and do who knows what with you isn't making sense or something?" He chided. Artemis swatted him in annoyance.

"I can take care of myself."

"I know babe, but won't be forever." Wally comforted pulling her in a tight hug. They embraced unabashedly for a good few seconds before he pulled away slightly and clamped his mouth over hers. The others looked away respectfully. Finally they broke for air and he whispered in her ear. "Please be safe, Artemis."

"I will." She soothed finally releasing contact with him. Kaldur was next to embrace her, in a tight comfoting hug. One hand rested on her head will the other pulled her shoulders in close.

"We will miss you greatly." He told her. She nodded into his gills.

"I'll miss you too fearless leader. You'd better visit soon. I'll go crazy without your level head." She joked giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Zatanna came slamming into her as soon as Kal stepped away, her arms encircling her waist and hoisting her up.

"I'm moving in with you!" She declared. Artemis laughed and squirmed out of her hug.

"Don't you have a job now?"

"Screw that. Keeping you out of trouble is my new job."

"Ha. Remember Harm? Yeah that was your fault."

"Was not!"

"Was too. You're the jerk who suggested we run around New York on Halloween!" The girls gigled and Artemis had to take a swipe at her eyes. M'gann took her hands and put them in a mind link.

_"You know I'm always in the Cave ready to talk right?"_

_"I know. We can text too okay?" _M'gann nodded and gave her a very light hug. "Miss you."

"Miss you too." Robin patted M'gann's shoulder as she walked back.

"Stay traught, whelmed, feel the aster and um be turbed?" He asked with a half smile. She grinned and opened her arms for a hug. He launched himself at her, but at the last second she turned and caught him a head lock. "That's not fair!" He yelled as she gave him an affectionate nuggie.

"Neither is leaving me out here to starve from bordem, bird brain!" She released him and punched his arm as he walked back. Only Roy and Conner were left, and neither seemed to want to go next.

"Why can't she come with us?!" Conner demanded after a moment or two.

"Because she's in danger with us!" Wally exclaimed, starting to get worked up.

"And out here all by herself and miles away from a Zeta Tube is any better?" Artemis stepped up to him and put a hand on his head.

"I can take care of myself big guy. Besides, their right. It is marginally safer out here." Out of the blue, Conner sweapt the blonde into his arms and gave her a hug.

"Come home soon." He choked out quietly. Said blonde patted his back gently.

"I will. I promise." Finally She looked at Roy. "What's the matter Roy Boy? Getting all choked up?" She teased half heartedly. He glared at her.

"Your sister says be safe. She thinks Lian needs a babysitter." He told her crossing his arms over his chest.

"Typical Jade. What about you?" The scowling red head didn't say anything. Instead he walked past her and ruffled her head.

"What Conner said." With final cries of 'I'll miss you' and 'Stay safe!' The Team boarded the Bio-Ship and departed. Now thouroughly depressed, she sank down onto her steps. Soon she was joined by Jack.

"You want to head to the Base?" He asked gently. Artemis looked at him and smiled.

"Lead the way." As if on clue, Arcee and Smokescreen pulled up, engines revving.

* * *

Bishop snarled at the mercenary. He was not having a pleasent day at all. First the assasin he had wanted to hire to kill Marr was 'unavailable' so he had to use all his contacts to find another. Eventually he did find someone, a lunatic named Deathstroke. His cost was outrageous, but the agent wanted Marr killed right so he agreed to the price. After that debacle, when he tried to pull up information about the archer that he had stabbed a few weeks ago, all of her files were tripple encoded and would take a far more skillful hacker then himself to unlock. Another million down the drain. But he was a patient man, he would wait for the hackers he had employed to finish their work and give him the information he needed. However, what he had no paitence for was incompetence.

"What do you mean you don't know where Silas' body is?" He spat. The other man cowered and whimpered out a flimsy excuse about losing the tracking signal. Without another word, Bishop ended the man's life and called someone to clean up the mess. He walked out of his office and headed for the coffee area. He was in desperate need for an expresso. Artemis Crock had just become the only person with the information he needed to rule the world. After his coffee he contacted one of his associates.

"Luthor. I need some help."

* * *

**Finally! As always, I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter! And I do know that Vegas is ridiculously cliche but I really wanted them roaming around sin city for a while! :D Next up is Legacy which means the other Autobots and kids are coming back! YAY! Tell me what you thought! :D**


	8. How Not To Be Seen

"Energon's signal is getting closer. About five clicks, due North." Smokescreen relayed. He was speeding down the highway while Artemis sat in his passenger seat. Her steel grey eyes roamed over the Geiger Counter, comfirming Smokescreen's own instrument.

Her steel grey eyes roamed over the Geiger counter, confirming Smokescreen's own instrument. Bumblebee beeped something that Artemis couldn't understand that made Smokescreen laugh.

"Speed limit? I have a gauge that goes to one fifty. If they didn't want me to go that fast they shouldn't have given me the option!" He laughed, speeding up further. Artemis looked up from the instrument and glanced at his speedometer. One hundred and five.

"You do realize that your car mode is meant for racing, not highway driving, right?" She asked dryly. Smokescreen was about to respond when he spotted an oncoming car around the bend- and heading straight for them.

"Whoah!" He yelled, stomping on the breaks and spinning out of the way. The blonde, who had not been expecting that, found herself clutching the dashboard in white knuckled terror.

"What the hell was that?!" She demanded as the owner of the other car got out of his vehicle.

"Hey! Indie five hundred," He called, dragging a crow bar. "When I'm through with you, you're going to need more then a pit crew to put you back together!" Smokescreen growled and his gears started to shift.

"Hotshot, what are you-eek!" Artemis began before the transformation of the seat she was in cut her off. A blackness enveloped her and all of a sudden, a wave of nausea and claustrophobia washed over her. She pounded her fists against the metal walls that had trapped her, but her cry for help was caught in her throat. Give her bugs, the Bat glare, tea with the Joker, the prospect of cleaning out her room, getting in the way of Wally and food, but a cramped darkness where she couldn't move or see? She'd much prefer getting in the way of a ravenous speedster while Batman glared at her. This type of enclosed space scarred her a bit. Smokescreen's muffled voice drifted to her ears and Bumblebee's faint honking could be heard but she couldn't make out exactly what was being said. Finally she found a sweet spot, and the armor that had encased her popped open. Bright light nearly blinded her and in her haste to get into the open, she fell from the cavity. Bumblebee reacted and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Thanks Bee. Oh man, I'm going to hurl!" She said, leaning over his fingers. She composed herself and glared at Smokescreen. "Hey Speedy Gonzalas, a little warning next time huh?" She admonished before noticing the bewildered driver below her. "Oh. Um hello. This is a dream?" She tried. Before anyone could react, he had his phone out and was snapping a photo of the trio. Bumblebee made a very rude sounding noise and glared at her partner.

_We need to get back to the base._

* * *

"Found it! Old road rage didn't waste any time posting your mugs shots." Jack said from his computer. "Raf'll scrub these when he gets back from house hunting." Artemis nodded in affirmative while pressing an ice bag to her forehead. She had smacked the same part of her face when Smokescreen avoided the collision and transformed and her headache was massive. Ratchet was not at all pleased.

"Is this what you learned while serving Alpha Trion?!" He yelled while the others stood in a horseshoe around them. "I highly doubt he would have condoned such behavior."

"Blowing your cover is not okay." Arcee added stepping toward the new guy. Smokescreen hung his head.

"Sorry guys. I know I really messed up." He said, reminding Artemis of a wounded puppy. Wally always pulled that on her when she was mad at him. Quite frankly, Smokescreen managed to pull it off just as well.

"While Arcee and Ratchet are correct, I believe we are all equally responsible for this incident." Optimus said calmly. Arcee and Ratchet looked simply outraged. The archer hadn't seen anyone this angry since the Team had replaced Superman's suit with an Eighties flower power costume.

"What?!" Arcee cried.

"How?!" Ratchet demanded to know.

"We weren't even there!" Bulkhead protested. Bee beeped in agreement. "Well, Bee was." The scout made the same angry beeping as before and elbowed Bulk in the chest.

"Our recent efforts have been so intensely focused on averting crisis, that we have overlooked simple matters."

"You know, that sounds more like the bad guys fault then ours." Artemis pointed out. Ratchet nodded and Arcee tilted her head to the side in agreement.

"That we have overlooked simple matters, such as teaching Smokescreen how to best function on this planet." Optimus continued as though he had not been interrupted. "It is an oversight that must be corrected."

"Optimus, it would be an honor to train under you, and I will do anything it takes to make things right; to make you proud."

"Suck up." Artemis muttered so that only Jack heard her. He grinned and nodded. The two coughed to keep from laughing.

"Actually, I believe it would be best if you learned about living with human, from a human."

"Smokescreen getting taught by a human?" Arcee asked.

"Plu-leeze. Isn't having four humans here enough?" Ratchet complained. Jack and Artemis glared at him, offended, Optimus looked at him with a cocked head and stoic expression and Smokescreen raised an eyebrow. Bumblebee had his head tilted so far to the side, it almost touched his shoulder blade, and Bulkhead looked shocked. Arcee's eyes were wide and her mouth was a tiny line on her faceplate. Dead and awkward silence filled the silo until Ratchet spluttered and turned away.

"I was referring to one human who is already among us." Optimus said looking over at Artemis and Jack.

"Uh, sure I guess." Artemis said. "How not to be seen, what a speed limit is, no beating up humans who don't deserve it, easy peasy."

"We've all put in curbside duty, part of the gig." Bulkhead announced, clapping Smokescreen on the shoulder. Artemis climbed down the ladder and jumped through Smokescreen's open door.

"Let's go for a drive then." And the two were gone. Arcee turned to Optimus.

"With all due respect, Agent Fowler is out relocating Raf's family because the Con's found out where he lived. And Smokescreen chooses a vehicle mode with screaming double thirty eights on the sides, making him an easy target. Not to mention Artemis is supposed to be hiding from something. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit concerned for their safety." She confessed.

"None the less, the fact remains that our new recruit is in need of some instruction, and Artemis can handle herself. Smokescreen's spark is in the right place and I believe he knows the importance of protecting humanity."

* * *

"Okay, I really hope you know this, since you've been driving me to school for a few weeks now. What do you do at a green light?"

"Green means go." He said as the zoomed through the intersection.

"Good boy. Yellow?"

"Go faster." Artemis could hear the smirk on his face as he accelerated. The light shifted from yellow to red and the traffic on the other side started to move.

"No! Hit the brakes!" She called. He complied and stopped just after the stop line, slamming Artemis into the steering wheel. "Ugh. You jerk." She snarled, massaging her collar bone.

"Just messing around!" He laughed. Artemis glared.

"Ha. Ha. You're simply hilarious." She said darkly, pounding the dashboard once with her fist. The squeal of tires brought her attention to what was happening behind her. A black and orange muscle car pulled up beside them. "Wuh-oh." She muttered, slipping lower in her seat.

"What is it? Cons? Smokescreen asked, the playfulness gone from his voice.

"No, just someone I'd really rather beat up then talk to." She said trying to sink below the window. "Now drive!"

"No can do. Red light teach. Your rules!"

"Believe me, if I, or anyone else I know, made the rules, stop lights would never apply to them." Artemis looked over and expected Vince, to throw something or make a rude gesture at her, but his attention was not on them. Instead the ginger bully was staring at Jack, who had somehow failed to realize that Vince was at the red light he was currently walking towards. He did notice when the jerk through his hamburger at him and it landed on his shoes. Vince laughed and mockingly saluted him before driving off.

"Oh come on! Seriously?" Smokescreen complained.

"Turn the corner. We'll see if he needs a ride." She sighed, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Jack noticed them and walked over.

"Need a lift?" Artemis asked, rolling down the window. He smiled and got into the passenger side.

"Thanks. Walking to work in condiment covered shoes might not be fun." He said strapping in.

"Stupid ass. When I see him next, I'm going to smack him!" Artemis growled, looking extremely offended. Jack and the others were quickly finding out that she was enormously protective.

"Just let it go. Before you get yourself detention again."

"Are you kidding me? We have to stand up for ourselves. Like Artemis does!" Smokescreen cried. Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"I say you that time when he and his cronies had you in that alley and you kicked their butts!" Smokescreen exclaimed.

"One, that was self-defence. Two, there is no us. No one can know about you. First rule of how not to be seen; you don't stand up. Three, if anyone older then me saw that, they would probably ground me, then go kick their butts themselves."

"Hey, who said anything about being seen? That only happens when you get caught!" He said cheekily. Artemis sighed again, but Jack looked interested.

"What did you have in mind?"

* * *

After living with such pranking masters such as Robin, Wally and the combined might of Green Arrow and the Flash, she would never again go anywhere near the Cave or the Watchtower ever again on April Fools Day. The pranks were always complicated and incredible as well and embarrassing to get caught up in. Therefore, she was largely unimpressed with the stunt Jack and Smokescreen pulled. The entire drive back to the base consisted of the boys laughing and making stupid puns while she glared out the front window. When they pulled into the silo and got out, Artemis made a mad dash away from them, desperate not to be affiliated with the idiots. They continued to laugh over the photo they had taken with Jack's phone.

"Arcee, check out Vince's car!" Jack called gleefully. Arcee bent down to get a better look and her optics widened in shock. "Hey Vince, did you want fries with that?" Jack taunted the phone. Smokescreen laughed loudly again and the archer groaned.

"Let me get this straight. You taught Smokescreen everything he didn't need to know about fast food?" She accused looking over at Artemis.

"Hey don't blame me. All I wanted was a milkshake." Artemis snapped.

"Besides, he passed driver's ed. Work hard, play hard." Jack shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yeah, no humans were harmed in the making of these photos. Promise!" Smokescreen added, walking past Bumblebee, Ratchet and Arcee. Artemis sighed and walked over to the couch. Jack and Smokescreen continued to joke around and make fun of Vince while the others went to do their own thing. With no one to distract her, she found herself replaying her final mission with Oliver and the events that made Batman kick her off the Team.

_"Elementary my dear Adler," He whispered, their code for 'I'm going to go ahead and hit someone with something now.' The code used to be 'Elementary my dear Watson,' but since Roy walked out on Ollie, it was changed to Alder to represent Artemis. (Apparently Black Canary was Mycroft for some odd reason.) His arrow went soaring for the head thief's hands, and at the last second, the arrow head split and a grappling rope spun itself around his wrists. The man cursed under his breath while the others pulled out their guns. Artemis sent her own arrow flying and it knocked the guns away from their owners. She engaged the closest man in hand to hand and quickly dispatched him. Half of the others closed in on her while the leader struggled with the rope binding his hands. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a man creep up behind Ollie. There was something in his hand that caught the light. Artemis called her mentor's name as the knife came crashing down toward his neck. Green Arrow turned and just managed to avoid the knife blow. The Emerald Archer punched upwards and dislodged the assailant's mask. His face was heavily scarred and vaguely familiar. _

_"You!" Oliver cried, recognizing him far faster then his partner. Realization finally dawned on her when she realized he was one of the men that had kidnapped her father. Reflexes took over and then men standing around her found themselves on the floor and in a great deal of pain. With a rage filled yell, Artemis tackled the man away from Oliver. Meanwhile, the leader had freed his hands and was escaping with the diamond. Green Arrow looked between the fleeing convict and his protégé clearly torn._

_"Go! I'll finish up in here!" She assured him. The archer nodded and disappeared after the thief. Now, unwatched, Artemis completely let loose of any inhibitions and unleashed everything she knew upon the man. "YOU! KILLED! MY! FATHER!" She screamed, accenting each word with a fearsome punch. She had him pinned on his back while she straddled his chest and pinned down his legs with her knees. She kept hitting him until his eyes closed and his body went slack. After a few more punches, she too went slack and releaser his legs. This turned out to be a huge mistake when the man suddenly kicked his legs ups and caught her around the throat. _

_"Never show mercy. That's a rule you'll have to learn when you join up." The man leered. He had flipped them so that he had her arms pinned to her back and her legs tucked into his left knee. _

_"Who are you?" She spat, struggling to get out from underneath him. He grinned unpleasantly._

_"The name's Agent Twelve. But you're going to turn me into Agent Four." He smiled. _

_"That'll be hard to do when you're dead." She whispered darkly before stabbing the arrow she kept in her sleeve into his right thigh. He howled in pain and released her. The blonde rolled backwards away from him. Twelve leapt up and sprinted for the stairs that led to the roof. Artemis pursued and raced him to the roof. Once there, he realized there wasn't really anywhere else to run to. Grinning rather evilly for a hero, Artemis slowly got closer and closer, bow in hand and arrow ready to fire. _

_"My name is Artemis Crock, you killed my father. Prepare to die." She said almost gleefully in a Spanish accent. _

_"That's the best you can come up with, little girl?" Twelve mocked, standing perfectly still. _

_"Sometimes it's best to when things match your situation." She responded, not noticing she was within arms reach of the mercenary. His hands shot out suddenly and seized her bow. Retching it from her grasp and smashing it across her face, the blonde went sprawling onto the ground._

_"You are coming with me tonight, whether you want to or not." He said, raising the bow to once again hit her. An arrow whizzed past him and sank into the roof and a green boot was slamming Twelve in the face. Green Arrow growled at him and offered a hand to his protégé. Ignoring it she got up on her own and threw a foam arrow at the thug's feet. _

_"Nice catch." The elder hero said appreciatively. Mine's a few buildings over. Artemis ignored him and walked over to the man, an arrow clutched in her fist._

_"Sorry. There's only going to be one catch tonight." She said, deathly quiet._

_"What?" Oliver asked confusedly. _

_"My name is Artemis. You killed my father. Prepare to die." She whispered to Twelve, whose eyes had widened in terror. Green Arrow called his protégé's name as she plunged the arrow down toward the man's neck._

"That thing we stuffed in his tail pipe! What's it called? Pizza!" Smokescreen and Jack roared, bringing Artemis back to the present. She felt a pang of jealously from watching the boys laugh so easily together.

"Would you two keep it down?!" Ratchet yelled at them. He tried to contact the others, but no answer was given.

"What's going on?" Artemis asked jumping off the couch and walking over to where Jack and Smokescreen were standing. Ratchet explained that he had located two Iacon relics, but could not reach Optimus to tell him about the second.

"I'll go." Smokescreen said immediately. The change from goofy, slacker Smokescreen to serious and determined Smokescreen nearly gave Artemis whiplash.

"Alone?" Ratchet exclaimed.

"You have any better ideas?" The medic groaned and relented opening the ground bridge. "He says fine, but I don't think he really wants me to go alone." He whispered to Jack, once they were no longer being watched. The pang of jealousy turned into a roar and Artemis glared at the boys.

"Alright." Jack said, running through the portal.

"Uh uh. No way you're leaving me here while you two have all the fun!" Artemis snapped sprinting after Jack.

* * *

They both emerged from the portal and looked around at the rocky scenery.

"I can't believe we just pulled a Miko." Jack muttered walking forward a bit.

"As long as you don't pull a Kid Flash and blow our cover, we'll be fine." Artemis assured him, dropping her boyfriend's name out of spite. Smokescreen appeared.

"Let's go grab us a relic!" He cheered running to hide behind a rock. The humans followed and looked toward where the Decepticons were mining something. It was the first time Artemis had ever seen the enemy robots.

"Whoa. It's a sword." Jack pointed out.

"Not just any sword. That looks like the Star Saber. A legendary weapon forged by Solus Prime. As lore would have it anyways. It's rumored to hold the power of the Matrix." Smokescreen explained. While she didn't have any idea what the heck a Matrix was, Artemis refused to ask about it. Clearly Jack knew, and she was not going to be that ignorant guy you had to explain everything to. It was clear from the tone that it was a powerful sword and that was all she needed to know. "I'm going to make Optimus proud."

"Not a good idea!" Jack warned.

"What? Why not?"

"Because Megatron's here!" He told them.

"The Dark Lord himself." Smokescreen muttered.

"I didn't know Voldemort allied himself with aliens." Artemis couldn't help herself. Jack clapped a hand over his mouth while Smokescreen gave her a confused look. "Right. That's the next thing we'll teach you." She assured him. Then she looked over to where he was pointing and saw a large silver robot that had purple accents. Everything about him, from his paint job, to his giant blaster on his forearm, to his sharply accented armor, screamed evil dictator and someone you want to run away from as fast as you could. The natural fighter in her started calculating how to take such an opponent down. She didn't come up with many options. The arrogant smirk slipped off her face.

"Well, he won't know what hit him!"

"Wait. Something isn't right! Why isn't he just taking the Star Saber?" Jack asked. Smokescreen thought about it.

"Germiphobe?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously, we should wait for back-up." He insisted. Smokescreen looked rather put out.

"You heard Ratchet, back-up's not available right now." And with that, he leapt over the rock that was blocking him from view.

"I was wrong before. We don't need to worry about blowing our cover, we need to worry about Smokescreen charging into battle totally unprepared!" Artemis ranted, snapping out her collapsible crossbow she never left home without. The baddies dropped a steel cable onto the rock as Smokescreen drew their attention to him.

"Who in the Pits of Kaon is that?" A voice growled. Artemis turned to see it was Megatron, and he did not look happy. Smokescreen reached the wall and started to pull futilely at the sword.

"Scrap. It's really in there tight." He observed before being shot in the back.

"Oh no. This cannot be happening!" Jack whispered more to himself then anything. He flipped out his phone and called the Base while Artemis loaded her crossbow. "Ratchet, you have to get Optimus here now! Smokescreen went for the relic, the Star Saber and-"

"Holy crap, what the hell is that!?" Artemis exclaimed as an Insecticon approached the pair.

"Scrap! Run!" Jack called to her. The archer fired a round of bolts into the creature's face while running after Jack who was sprinting past her.

_"Where in the name of Cybertron are you?" _Ratchet's voice asked from Jack's phone. It flew from his grasp when his foot snagged a root. The Insecticon made a terrifying whinny and advanced. _"And did you say Star Sabe? Oh my. Jack! Optimus, please respond!" _ Artemis dragged Jack up and grabbed the phone. The humans could hear Ratchet trying to call Optimus. When that had no effect, he called out for Artemis. _"Artemis! You are needed! Artemis! Where are you?" _She grabbed the phone from Jack's hand and held it to her ear while shooting at the beast.

"Way ahead of you Doc." She told him, still running for her life. She clipped her weapon to her side, as the bolts were having no effect on the Insecticon. Instead she and Jack were forced to dodge their angry stomps and trying to get as far away as they could from it. "What exactly are we fighting?" She asked him, rolling away from a foot.

"Their called Insecticons! Their like more obedient, stronger and scarier Decepticons with built in wings." Jack panted falling in beside her.

"Well that's just dandy." She muttered. They ran towards a rock cluster and dashed inside a crevice, making themselves as small as they could as the monster clawed at the rocks protecting them. The laser blasts increased all of a sudden as the three Insecticons pulled the rocks away. Artemis fired a few more redundant rounds at the beasts, before Arcee jumped to their rescue.

"What could have possibly been thinking?" She demanded, her voice full of hurt and worry. Artemis ignored the question and ran over to see Optimus drive off the mountain and seize the Star Saber. A bright blue light enveloped him as he fell, hitting the ground with a titanic crash. The Prime stood up and held the sword above him.

"I loosened it for him." Smokescreen said with a smile on his face. Then the part of the mountain the Cons were trying to steal was released. Its potential energy was quickly turned into moving kinetic energy as it rolled ominously towards Optimus' back.

"Retreat! Now!" Arcee screamed to him. The leader however, gazed at his sword, almost as if he was in a trance. Artemis had seen the look on several villains right before their bodies had become possessed or before becoming obsessed with the object they were holding. At the last possible second, Optimus turned and sliced the massive rock in two, proving that he was far stronger then any villain.

"Did he just…" Bulkhead started. Bumblebee made a sound that was suspiciously close to 'Uh huh.'

"Now way." Jack said in awe. Optimus then sent a large wave of energy towards the Nemisis.

"It can do that?" Smokescreen asked, eyes wide. The ship almost crashed to the ground before sweeping skywards again.

"Well that was impressive." Artemis stated.

* * *

"HOW EPIC WAS THAT?" Smokescreen exclaimed, walking through the Groundbridge and sweeping his arms around like an excited five year old. "I saw it with my own two optics, but I still don't believe it!" He gushed. Artemis shook her head but smiled. She had never been anything close to that whimsical and entranced, but it was nice to see it in others… Even if they were huge alien robots. Arcee on the other hand, was livid.

"You wanna know what I don't believe? That after everything you've been told, you still put the humans at risk." She said, her tone simply furious.

"Arcee, it wasn't his fault, I shouldn't have-" Jack attempted.

"Don't you even start with me. We'll talk tomorrow." She snapped, speaking quickly. Her voice was filled with hurt and disappointment. "Send the kids home." She told Ratchet.

"Wait, is Smokescreen going to pick me up tomorrow for school?" Artemis asked worriedly.

"We shall see." Optimus said, before going to put away the Star Saber. The kids walked toward the open Groundbridge but stopped near the edge. They both gave Smokescreen a worried look.

"Green for go." He said lightly. They nodded and disappeared.

"Disregard for human safety, or anyone's safety will not be tolerated. Do. You. Understand?" Optimus asked sharply once the portal had closed again.

"Completely."

"We must never lose sight of the fact, that upon this earth, we are titans. No one here has a chance of beating us. We are in a league of our own, and such power must be used wisely."

* * *

The next morning, Smokescreen did pick her up, for which she was glad. The walk to school was fairly long and the bruises she had from slamming into the ground so many times, were predominantly on her legs and back, making walking uncomfortable. She got in the car, and they drove in silence for a while before Artemis noticed their speed limit.

"Uh, Hotshot, why are we driving under the speed limit?" She asked.

"Don't you read the signs? Speeding kills." He answered, trying to make it sound light.

"Arcee really read you the riot act huh?"

"And Optimus. Human safety is top priority." He said gloomily.

"You do realize that my boyfriend runs faster then this right? And when he's carrying me, we're either being shot at by tanks or there's a massive explosion right behind us. I don't think you speeding is going to hurt me." She pointed out.

"Yet I almost got you killed yesterday morning." But he still sped up to their usual pace.

"Look, I know that you feel awful about yesterday, but I can handle myself in the field. Jack, not so much, but that's why he stays at home." He didn't respond. "Look, what I'm trying to say is, you don't need to treat me like fine china. As long as you watch my back and I watch yours, there's nothing that could stop us. I trust you." She assured him.

"Well alright then." He said, the playful tone returning.

"But if you choose Jack over me like that again, I'll kill him and frame you for it alright?" She threatened.

"Yes, ma'am!" And with that, Smokescreen was back to normal.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter! A big thank you to all who reveiwed! As usual if you have any questions or comments, let me know in a reveiw. That's all I have to say for now, so join us next week, same Bat time, same bat chanelle. :D


	9. Of Little Talks and Being Fired

After Smokescreen's foolishness in regarding the children's saftey, Arcee was much harsher with him. In fact it would be safe to say that she had lost all trust in the rookie. It bothered him more then he let on. He felt awful about the entire mess. After driving Artemis to school the next day, he slipped back into his funk. He drove around aimlessly until noon, driving in the same circuit over and over. It was at noon that Artemis decided to go out to the K.O. Burger for lunch. She ate her burger inside and carried her fries and milkshake out the door with her before seeing a familiar sports car driving around in circles. Sighing, the blonde leaned against a light post and waited for the Autobot to notice her. It took him far too long to however, so she 'accidently' threw a few fries at his windows. This quickly got his attention, and he squealed to a stop. He glanced around, (though it's not like anyone could tell what he was doing,) and saw the blonde heroine. She nodded to the side and directed him around the corner. He obeyed and pulled onto the deserted street. She opened the driver side door and slide in. Someone was walking their dog along the street, so they started to drive.

"Kid? What are you doing? Don't you have school or something?" Smokescreen queried. Artemis shrugged and gently nudged his wheel to the left.

"School's kind of useless to me. My friends could teach me my entire high school curriculum in a week flat. Probably better than the teachers here to boot." She told him causally, once again adjusting their course.

"But won't they miss you?"

"Naw, I used to play hooky all the time back in Gotham. Mom's used to it by now." She shrugged. "What about you? Don't you have something more important to do with your day?" Smokescreen's engine revved once.

"Well, you know. There wasn't much for me to do around there, so I thought I'd go for a drive." He said, feigning nonchalance. Artemis shook her head.

"You know it's okay to chalant when you mess up. Believe me, that tough guy attitude gets real old, real fast." Artemis adjusted the wheel one final time before they arrived at their destination. Smokescreen transformed when she got out of the way and gave her a sad look.

"I almost got you guys killed. I deserve Arcee's rage." He sighed. Artemis repressed the urge to roll her eyes, and settled for raising her eyebrows.

"So you made a mistake. Big whoop. No one died, and no one got hurt. It's not the end of the world." She told him, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"You don't understand. I'm the new guy. I should be impressing the others, not screwing everything up." He moaned. This time, Artemis did roll her eyes. She was never good at dealing with people who felt sorry for themselves, and giant robots were not any different.

"Bow me." She commanded. Smokescreen, whose eyes had been on the ground the entire time, finally looked at her and glance around at his surroundings.

"Why are we here?" He asked, handing her the weapon.

"I figured you needed some downtime. Wanna play Ultimate Darts?" She asked, loading an arrow. Smokescreen smiled lightly and the pair began defacing the canyon wall once again.

"Did I ever tell you about my first mission with the Team?" Artemis asked after a time. Smokescreen looked at her and shook his head. "Well, it was terrible." She started as she drew another arrow. Smokescreen cocked his head to the side. It was a rare occurrence for her to share her past so openly. "None of the Team trusted me, and Kid Flash outright hated me. Then my sister attacked us and I let her go because I was afraid she would tell them who I was."

"But they accepted you afterwards right?" Smokescreen asked as she let the arrow fly. It met its mark and landed dead center of the rings they had made using Artemis' paint arrows.

"Well, some of them did… Others, not so much. But Eventually, I realized they would accept me for who I was. Even if I screwed up a few times, they wouldn't hold it against me." Smokescreen had his blasters out and took his own shot. It was a bulls-eye.

"Yeah but you didn't put anyone in extreme danger for your own amusement." He said dejectedly. Artemis gave him a look.

"For your own amusement? Who fed you that crap?" She asked annoyedly. Smokescreen looked at the ground next to her left boot. "It was Arcee right?" She guessed.

"You still didn't put anyone in danger." He mumbled. Artemis shook her head slowly.

"That isn't the point. A mistake is a mistake. No one got hurt. So why are you still moping around about it? Arcee just has her circuits in a wad. I swear, she's worse than Red Arrow." Smokescreen chuckled a little. Not a lot. But a little.

"She's just worried about you kids." Artemis scoffed.

"I can take care of myself. Just because you throw a few alien robots into the picture, doesn't mean I'm suddenly defenseless." She stated firmly. Smokescreen held up his servos.

"Hey, don't tell me!" He said, defensively. She smiled herself and looked at him while firing an arrow. It flew straight and true, hitting the center of Smokescreen's blast.

"Alright. Wanna go for a drive?"

"Sounds good to me." He transformed, and they were off.

The drive around Jasper was around a hour and a half if you stayed on the very outskirts of town and obeyed the speed limits. If you were travelling at Smokescreen and Artemis' preferred speed, it only took about twenty minutes. After a lap or two, this quickly became dull.

"Okay, so maybe a drive wasn't the most exciting idea I've had yet." Artemis muttered.

"Want me to drop you back at school?"

"It's only one thirty. I'll just get a detention for skipping." She complained. The Jasper scenery blurred past them as they drove.

"So, I have a question." Smokescreen said after a silence. Artemis looked at the radio.

"Shoot." She said, a little warily. He hummed for a moment before posing his question.

"Artemis, who exactly are you running from?" Her look immediately became frosty.

"I'm not running from anyone." She gritted out. Smokescreen made a noise that was almost like a sigh.

"Arty-"He began.

"Do not. Call me Arty." She snapped angrily.

"Artemis." He amended. "I just want to help."

"Well go help someone else. Because I don't need it." She clarified, folding her arms across her chest in a huff.

"Are you always this difficult?" Smokescreen moaned. "Look, you told me you had to move out here because you were attacked and your father was kidnapped and killed." Artemis took a random swipe at her left eye and glared at his dashboard. "I just want to know if I need to be on the lookout for someone who wants to kill you. I just want to keep you safe.

"Yeah and so does everyone else." She muttered.

"Artemis. I'm serious here."

"So am I. I'm tired of people telling me to stay safe and be careful and treating me like I'm some sort of fine china!" She vented, sitting up straight. "I've been taking care of myself since I was nine. Nothing's changed." Smokescreen was silent for a long moment.

"You don't have to do things alone now." He said quietly.

"That's what the Team said. That's what Wally said, yet here I am, alone in the middle of the desert, hundreds of miles away from the Team and all my friends." She snarled.

"Well that's their loss. And no matter what you think, you're not alone out here. You have me. And I have you. I think we make a pretty good team!" He said encouragingly. Artemis was silent for a long while.

"You got me. And I have you." She said. "Well, I guess it's the best I'm going to get."

"So anything to share?" Artemis sighed.

"Alright, fine. I didn't leave straight after Dad was taken." She admitted. "It was something else."

_"My name is Artemis. You killed my father. Prepare to die." She whispered to Twelve, whose eyes had widened in terror. Green Arrow called his protégé's name as she plunged the arrow down toward the man's neck. Just before the arrowhead could sever the man's neck from his spine, and second, blunt arrow knocked it away. Artemis gave a rage filled scream and tried to beat the man to death. Seconds later, strong arms wrapped around her center and pulled her back, away from the man. Green Arrow pulled her into his chest and wrapped her in a tight hug. She sobbed whole heartedly into him, her shoulder shaking from the tears_. _They were turned so that Green Arrow's back was to Twelve, so the emerald archer didn't notice the man regain consciousness and start to sneak away. Black Canary on the other hand, who had been called by Ollie, did see him and quickly apprehended him. She gave her boyfriend and his protégé a worried look before coming over._

_"Artemis? Sweetie, what happened?" Artemis made a strangled coughing sound, trying to speak through her tears._

_"He- He- k-k-killed m-y d-dad." She managed to choke out. Up until this point, she hadn't shown any emotion concerning the discovery of her father's body in the harbour. Now all of her pent up grief was washing over and out of her in violent waves. Oliver held for a while longer before bringing her back to his mansion. Dinah brought the man to the police station before joining them at Queen Mansion. Artemis was in her guest bedroom, sleeping fitfully when she arrived._

_"Oliver, what the hell happened?" She asked. The pair were in the kitchen, still wearing their costumes._

_"I'm not sure. But what I do know, that if I wasn't there, she was going to kill that man." He said darkly. Dinah's face soured._

_"But why. She said he killed her father. I wasn't aware that her father was dead..." It was true. The only people who knew of Sportsmaster's demise was his wife, daughters, Batman and Green Arrow. Robin had suspected something had happened, but was unclear as to what exactly had transpired. _

_"He got himself kidnapped. The odd thing is, he was kidnapped after trying to warn Artemis about something. She won't tell me what for though." Green Arrow said grimly, shaking his head._

_"Lex Luthor. He's responsible." A disembodied voice said. _

_"How do you know?" Oliver asked the shadows. He had known Batman far too long to jump at his sudden introduction. _

_"Detective." He said dryly. Dinah shook her head while Oliver glared at him. "I went back to her apartment after the incident and found evidence of Luthor's involvement. You're apprehension of his Twelve further proves my theory."_

_"That's all well and good. But what I want to know is, why did he go to such effort just to get to Artemis? What could he possibly need her for?" Black Canary demanded. _

_"…I'm not sure." Batman admitted. Oliver scowled, and turned around to get himself a coffee. "But that is not what concerns me at the moment." Oliver whipped his head around._

_"What's wrong?" Canary asked worriedly. _

_"I am concerned with Artemis' violent behavior towards her enemy this evening."_

_"What about it?" Oliver asked._

_"I am worried that with her assassin training, as well as her short temper makes her a danger to herself and those around her."_

_"You're kidding me." Green Arrow spat. _

_"I never-"_

_"Kid, we know. But I didn't take you for a hypocrite either." Batman gave his famous glare to his fellow billionaire._

_"Excuse me?" The men were locked in a staring competition, and Canary was looking worriedly between the pair. None of the adults noticed the teenager sitting on the staircase, staring straight ahead and listening intently to every word._

_"When you caught up with your parent's killer, did you treat him like any other criminal?" Oliver asked. "Doubtful. The truth is, you probably kicked the crap out of that guy. The fact you expect a hormonal teenager to be the bigger person is hypocritical." He sneered. Bruce kept on glaring. _

_"Beating someone and trying to kill them are completely different matters." He said stiffly._

_"You are unbelievable. She's a kid Bruce! How did you expect her to act when she confronted her father's killer?"_

_"She's not the first to go through this. Robin never tried to kill Zucco."_

_"Only because you were there, looming behind him. Otherwise it would have been different."_

_"You have to think about it Oliver. What if the Team go on a drug bust and find them? What if Artemis gets angry and blows their cover. What if she goes up against Luthor and gets hurt, or worse? What if she gets the Team hurt?"_

_"That's a lot of what ifs, Bruce." Dinah said softly. "Artemis is a good person. I think tonight was just too much."_

_"None the less, I believe she needs a break from the Team." Artemis' head shot to the side, grey eyes wide._

_"What?" She cried, drawing the hero's attention to her._

_"Artemis! I thought you were asleep."_

_"I woke up. What do you mean you're kicking me off the Team?" She demanded, descending off the stairs and taking Oliver's place in the staring match. _

_"Your head isn't in the game. You're going to get someone hurt if you can't focus."_

_"What makes you think I can't?"_

_"Your actions tonight." He said with a tone of obviousness._

_"So I lost it this one time!" Batman looked directly into her eyes. Though she desperately wanted too, she kept her gaze up._

_"Can you honestly tell me that you keep your focus on the mission without going off on a personal mission?" He asked. Artemis thought about it a moment._

_"My father died, trying to save me. I will avenge his death. I owe him that." She said finally._

_"Then I believe it would be for the best, if you and your mother move away." The Dark Knight was certain that the Arrow families' eyes were going to pop out of their skulls. All three blondes were looking at him incredulously. _

_"Move away? You mean to Star City?" Canary asked._

_"No. I don't think you should be in costume until we can find out why Luthor wants you." Batman explained. "Which means you need to be away from cities where you would be compelled to help people."_

_"You- No you can't- I won't go- You can't make me… I…" Artemis stuttered, completely shell shocked from Batman's suggestion. There was a beat of silence._

_"I think you should go." Green Arrow said. Artemis gave him a betrayed look._

_"Huh?"_

_"Artemis, this is the second time in a week you've almost been kidnapped by a psychotic arms dealer. You're in danger here. You need to disappear for a while. Just until we've figured this out." Canary nodded in agreement._

_"And I know your mother would love to get out of Gotham." She pointed out._

"And two weeks later, we've sold the apartment, pack and moved out here. Just before we left, I thought I saw someone following me, so I tried to lure them out by going to an empty alley. They didn't come out of the shadows though. I'm not sure if they followed me here too." Artemis recapped. Smokescreen continued to drive, and was quiet for a moment. The only sound was his humming engine.

* * *

While Bishop waited, he enjoyed a glass of tea and lounged in the Metropolis coffee house. He always liked returning to his homes city, even if nowadays it was marred by Superman's ominous presence. Lex Luthor was impeccably dressed as usual and right on time. He sat down beside the mercenary and ordered a coffee.

"Mister Luthor." He greeted.

"Agent Bishop. Thank you for joining me." Bishop nodded. The waitress brought the billionaire his coffee and left them in peace.

"So what was it you refused to discuss with me over the phone?" Asked Bishop, not bothering to dispense with unnecessary pleasantries.

"Blunt as usual, Bishop. Good to see some things never change." Luthor chuckled. "I have a deal you for." Bishop took a long draught of his tea.

"I'm listening."

"I think we can help each other. What would you say to a partnership between LexCorp and M.E.C.H?"

"Go on."

"Think about it. Combining our technology we could be unstoppable."

"While that does sound enticing, there is one flaw in your plan. I already have technology that is unstoppable." Luthor raised on of his eyebrows.

"Do you now? Which is why, you needed an assassin to kill Marr."

"That was different. The fact is, I have access to the most powerful weapons in the universe."

"And yet, you called me." Bishop sighed.

"Well, I almost have the ultimate weapon. I just need one more piece of the puzzle." Luthor smiled.

"As it happens, I have use for the same piece and am already in the process of collecting her. So I ask you again. What would you say to a partnership?" Bishop finished off his cup of tea and thought about it. An alliance with LexCorp would be beneficial and Luthor had already shown he was helpful, with suggest Deathstroke as the assassin.

"Alright. It does sound like a mutually helpful partnership. But I am not getting involved with the League. I have enough enemies at the moment." Luthor stuck out his pale hand.

"Agreed. Imagine, in just a few short weeks, we shall rule the world."

"And after that, the Universe."

* * *

"So who is this Lex Luthor?" Smokescreen finally asked.

"He's the CEO of LexCorp, a weapons and technology company. It's a shadowy version of Wayne Industries. He's also a megalomaniac who's obsessed with ruling the world and killing Superman. My father used to work for him." She explained. They had made a circle and had ended back up at their valley. She got out and he transformed.

"So, he's dangerous." Smokescreen clarified.

"Yup. But he's smart. He doesn't flaunt around the fact that he's evil. In fact, public opinion is that he's a benevolent businessman who loves kids and the homeless. It'll take them ages to find out why he's after me." Artemis said bitterly. Her face was scrunched up in anger and annoyance and Smokescreen felt extremely guilty for making her face look like that.

"Okay. Then we'll do it ourselves." Artemis gave him a confused look. "Come on, we have the computer with all of Fowler's files on it, how hard could it be?"

"Do you know how much trouble we'd get in for looking through those files?"

"So? Kid, I'm not sure what you think of me as, but kid, I'm here for you. I'm not going to let you be in danger or upset." Artemis smiled at her shoes and shook her head.

"Geez how much more 'big brother' can you get? Even Kaldur and Conner aren't this bad." She giggled.

"Why is it I can never tell if you're insulting me or complimenting me?" He complained. She chuckled again and smiled up at him.

"Weird. I ditched school to make you feel better. I wasn't planning on having you comfort me."

"What can I say? I'm just that good." He boasted. Artemis rolled her eyes and kicked his foot. He offered her a servo and she climbed aboard. He gently placed her on his shoulder and they walked deeper into the desert.

"Hotshot?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for the offer. But I think I can suffer through staying here for a little while longer." He grinned.

"Anytime Kiddo. You want to see if we can break the sound barrier?"

"Seriously? My boyfriend can break it in his sneakers. I doubt you can. Sorry there Hotshot, but he has you beat. How 'bout we get some ice cream instead?"

"I have no clue what that is, but alright. Lead the way Kiddo." The pair went for ice cream and a drive in movie. They stayed out until Ratchet called demanded to know where they were. It was a peaceful evening and they were blissfully unaware of the upcoming turmoil they were about to enter into.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed! Thank you so much to those who reviewed and followed or favorited! A special shout-out to SuperHeroTimeFan! I know you were paitently waiting for this chapter and here it is! I hope everyone enjoyed and I would love to hear from you! The next Chapter should be up by the end of the week. (I know I said that last time and I'm late, but I do try!) Anyways have a great week and I'll see you next time! :D


	10. Ludicrous Plans and Dinner Crashing

**Guess who got a chapter in on time! THIS GIRL! :D YAY! Anyways, In order to get it in on time, it's not proof read very well so if there are any mistakes, I apologize in advance! Anyways, thank you to all who reviewed favorite and followed! R&R**

* * *

Artemis fiddled with her hair aimlessly, waiting for her dull math class to finish. Robin had already taught her most of their sophomore year back in November and quite honestly, Robin had done far better work. Gosh, she missed them. Zatanna had promised to teleport herself over for the evening, so they could have a girl's night out again, but she wasn't due until five-thirty. Artemis sighed and looked at the clock. There was still three hours until school ended. Subtly taking out her phone, she texted everyone she had in her 'close friends' list. Only Smokescreen answered. She guessed that the others were either on a mission or in a test.

From: Smoky  
Message: Hey Kiddo, what's up?

To: Smoky  
Message: Too bored for words. You wanna swing by the K.O. Burger and we can go driving?

From: Smoky  
Message: Sorry Kid, something's going down at the base. I got to go, but I'll try and text you later.

Artemis groaned aloud, earning herself a few glares from the kids trying to pay attention. She raised her hand, and being as polite as she possibly could, she asked to use the bathroom. The teacher let her, and the blonde bombshell grabbed her things and left. She dumped her backpack and textbooks in her locker and left the school, heading for home. It was a fairly long walk since she didn't have the luxury of an alien car driving her around. So she hiked through Jasper until she reached her own home. She slipped through an open window and went straight for her Goddess Cave. She picked up her bow and started to fire off a volley of arrows towards her target. She felt a bit bad for skipping school again, since she had ditched yesterday to hang out with Smokescreen. However, she was feeling extremely sheltered and stir-crazy so if she didn't blow off some steam by ditching, she was going to snap. After firing arrows stationary got dull, she decided to fire from the gymnastic equipment Robin had set up for her. This too got dull and she eventually decided to give it up and go down to the K.O Burger for some refreshment.

The rest of Jasper High's student body was still in classes when Artemis walked into the burger joint, so she got a scathing looks from some elderly patrons. Not really caring what some fuddy-duddy old women thought of her, Artemis ignored them, ordered and sat down by herself in a corner booth. Slowly, she munched on the fries she had gotten and sent a quick text to Smokescreen, who didn't return it. Once she had finished, she sat there, staring at nothing in particular, not realizing she had been there for almost a half hour. A weird feeling of trepidation had settled in her stomach and she wasn't sure if it was the fries, or instinct. When a bald man wearing an expensive suit sat down across from her, she decided it was her instinct.

"Luthor. What brings you all the way out here?" She asked scathingly, spinning the straw around the empty cup in front of her. Luthor, smiled graciously at her.

"There's something about small towns that intrigue me. But one could ask the same thing of you Miss. Crock." Artemis glared at the business man. She wracked her brains for something clever to say, but came up short.

"You know exactly why. How'd you find me anyways?" She asked angrily.

"The Caped Crusader is not as good as he thinks he is." Lex said smugly.

"In other words, you got a tip from someone we didn't know was working for you." Artemis returned, her own smirk returning. "In any case, you know my answer. Now get the hell out." She told him deadly serious. Luthor's smile didn't waver.

"Please, Miss Crock. Consider the benefits that come along with coming to work for me." Artemis rolled her eyes.

"It's not the benefits that concern me. It's the consequences. In case you haven't noticed, bad things happen to people who get on the wrong side of Superman." She pointed out.

"I can protect you from him. From the entire Justice League even." Luthor promised. Artemis shook her head slowly.

"No offence- wait no, offence meant, but there is no way in hell that you could keep me away from the entire Justice League." She scoffed. Luthor sighed heavily.

"Miss Crock, whether you like it or not, you will be coming to work for me. Why don't you make it easier on everyone and simply come willingly?"

"One, because I have morals, two, because my mother would kill me, and three, because I don't like you." She told him simply.

"You are making a grave mistake." He warned.

"Go scrap yourself." She said. Then she blinked. It was the first time she had used a Cybertronian curse despite being around them so frequently.

"Suit yourself Miss Crock. I'll be in touch with you soon." Luthor nodded at her and left the restaurant. Artemis counted to fifteen before walking towards the bathroom, her hands already shaking from the adrenaline his mere presence had brought. She got to the bathroom and entered a stall and let her entire body wrack with shivers. She leaned over the sink until her phone brought her back to reality.

From: Mistress of Magic  
Message: Hey Arty! I know it's early, but do you want me to poof over now?

Artemis took a moment to calm and compose herself.

To: Mistress Magic  
Message: Sounds good. Meet me at my house.

Artemis exited the restaurant and took a paranoid look around the street before slinking home, keeping to the side streets. When she finally reached the safety of her house, she crept in the back door and went to her room to find Zatanna sitting comfortably on her bed.

"You look like crap." She greeted with a large smile. Artemis scowled and dropped onto the mattress beside her.

"Well you look like a special edition Barbie doll." She fired back. Both girls grinned and gave each other a big hug.

"I miss you like crazy on missions." Zee admitted.

"I miss you too!" She agreed.

"I just feel so bad for you! Stuck here in this tiny little town, with no fighting, no action, only a mundane routine to stick to." Artemis nodded slowly, a bit of guilt settling in her stomach next to the uneasy feeling she had gotten since Luthor had visited her.

"Yeah. It sucks. So how are the others?" Zatanna smirked proudly.

"Well, M'gann can't go two minutes without bringing you up in conversation, Rob keeps muttering 'Got to stay Traught,' Kaldur will make a plan that will include you and then realize that you're not there. Conner grumbles about it all the time, Roy is a bit preoccupied with searching for the original Speedy but he does seem grouchier than normal, Raquel always asks to hear more stories about the Team where you did something particularly memorable, and Wally is a complete and utter mess. I think he's going stir crazy without someone to bicker with. He'll try to pick fights with the others, but they either hit him, or give up immediately." Artemis giggled uncharacteristically at each mention of the others.

"You know, that sounds exactly like them." She smiled. The pair talked and gossiped for almost two hours when they both decided they needed to go stretch their legs. They cut through the garage, and bumped into Jack on their way out.

"Hey, Artemis." He greeted with a wave.

"Hey. Jack, this is my friend Tanna. Tan, this is Jack." They shook hands and exchanged a greeting.

"By the way Artemis, your ride is with mine at the shop. They should be back by tomorrow though." Artemis nodded in understanding that Arcee and Smokescreen were on a mission. She waved and they parted ways.

"Tanna?" Zatanna asked once they were out of ear shot.

"What? Zatanna is kind of obvious. What's wrong? Is it too close to Robby wobby's nickname?" Artemis teased.

"Oh shut up. So what's this about a ride? You didn't tell me you had a car!" The magician said excitedly.

"Oh. Um, yeah, uh, Jack does some auto body work, and uh, he took this old crappy car, and turned it into something better…" She finished lamely. Zatanna raised an eyebrow.

"Okay then. When can I see it?"

"Didn't you hear Jack? It won't be back before morning. Besides, I don't want my mom finding out about it. Ever since we moved out here, she's gotten way too paranoid." The blonde complained as they walked down the street.

"I know how you feel. But try to keep an open mind about it okay? She's only doing it because she cares." The memory of Zatanna's father being taken by Fate added another pang of guilt to Artemis' conscious. They continued on their walk, talking, laughing and enjoying being with each other, until Zee suddenly popped a serious question.

"Is something wrong, 'Mis? You seem kinda on edge." Artemis waved a hand and looked away.

"It's nothing. I've just lived in Gotham too long. I feel a bit naked without my bow." She explained. She wasn't quite sure why she was hiding the fact that Luthor had found her from her close friend. Maybe because she wanted to prove herself, or to keep the others from worrying, but regardless of why, she kept her mouth shut.

"Alright…" She accepted, but with a suspicious look on her pretty features. After a few more blocks, a yellow and black muscle car past them and Zatanna let out a low whistle.

"Damn, that is one wicked car!" She said, eyes wide. "Do you know who owns it?" Artemis shrugged.

"Nope. But it is a nice car." Bumblebee came to a stop at a light and the girls caught up with him. Zee tried to stick her head up against the window to see who was driving it, but Artemis pulled her back.

"How about you don't make me associated with a creep?" Zee rolled her brown eyes.

"You are absolutely no fun." She huffed, strutting down the street. Artemis followed after giving Bumblebee's hood a pat. They headed back to Artemis' house and chatted the rest of the evening in Artemis' Goddess Cave. When it was time for Zatanna to return to Las Vegas, it was hard to say goodbye.

"I'll miss you so much!"

"I'll miss you too! And so does everyone else. They talk about you all the time."

"Tell them I'll try to call them more often. And tell Wally, I might not be there, but I'm still watching!" Both girls laughed.

"I think he'd be happier to know that."

"I'll be watching you too Zee. Love you."

"Love you too 'Mis." With a backwards spell, and a puff of theatrical smoke, the brunette was gone. Artemis sighed sadly and walked over to the picnic tables that sat outside the K.O. Burger. She looked up at the stars and used an inner monologue to grumble about her life. When a black van passed by and stopped a block down, her attention snapped to it. The archer slipped her crossbow from its pouch on her cargo pants and tensed as the van slowly backed up until it was in front of her. The back doors slide open, and there were a handful of heavily armed men dressed in black waiting for her.

"Unless you want us to open fire on the middle of the street, you'll get in the van." One of them said. Normally, Artemis would have said something cleverly appropriate for the situation, then shoot a few arrows at them and run for her life, but there was three children, who could be no older than seven playing nearby. There was no way she would let them get hurt, so she left the cross bow on the bench and stuffed a hand into her pocket as she sulked up to them. She fired off two texts as quickly as she could, before allowing the men to bind her hands and drive off with her into the night.

The ride was silent, seeing as Artemis was bound and gagged and the mercenaries that had kidnapped her weren't talking. The blonde instead tried to concentrate on where they were going. She figured they'd been driving almost two hours, but they had only stayed on a straight path a half hour in. Artemis guessed that they were making sure they weren't being followed and now they were on a highway. There wasn't much else she could discern, so she spent the rest of the trip fuming at herself for not telling someone, anyone about her visit with Luthor. Her mother was going to kill her. Finally, the van pulled to a stop, and the door opened. Bright light flooded the interior of the vehicle, temporarily blinding its occupants. When Artemis' eyes finally became accustomed to the sudden change, she glared at the familiar masks. Someone behind her untied the gag.

"M.E.C.H." She spat. "Wasn't excepting you."

"We are full of surprises, Miss Crock." The leader of the masked men told her. "But we are merely the deliverers for now. Who's really expecting you, is inside." Another man approached her with a drawn knife. Artemis struggled to get away, but two others held her shoulders firmly. Artemis shut her eyes in fear, but there was no sharp pain. Instead, the pressure on her wrists released, and then her legs were freed. The masked mercenary offered her his hand, and Artemis grudgingly took it. "Now, if you would follow me." He led her into a building that was a combination of a warehouse and a factory. There were a combination of masked people and others who willingly showed their faces. They walked down several corridors, being flanked by four other men. After two, or three minutes of walking, they arrived at a door. The leader knocked twice, then turned the knob and led them in. Unsurprisingly, the room behind the door was a spacious office, with a desk, a bookshelf, several filing cabinets and a large painting of a horse. The man sitting behind the desk was even less of a surprise.

"Luthor. I never would have guessed." Artemis deadpanned. Luthor stood to greet his guests, and all the mercenaries, except for their leader exited the room. "So now what? You've kidnapped me, which someone is bound to notice, but now what?"

"Ah, the old, you can lead a horse to water metaphor. However, a thirsty horse will undoubtedly drink their worth. Wouldn't you say so Agent Bishop?" Luthor asked in his calm low voice. The mercenary had removed his face mask to reveal a young man with dark brown hair. He had several barely noticeable scars that peppered his face like freckles.

"Completely. Just remember that I still need her when you're done."

"Duly noted. Would you like something to eat or drink, Miss Crock?" Artemis sneered and shook her head.

"No. What I want, is to be left in peace." She snapped. Luthor shrugged and turned to Bishop.

"I'm good."

"Just for me then." He pressed a button on the phone that was sitting on his desk. "Mercy, bring me my scotch and some glasses." Then he turned back to Artemis. "I know you must be wondering why I have gone to such lengths to employ you." To tell the truth, Artemis was curious, so she nodded. "Have a seat my dear." Artemis obeyed and sunk down into the cushy chairs in front of the desk. Bishop pulled one away from hers and sat in it.

"So what exactly does the Great, Lex Luthor need me for?" Artemis asked.

"Well my dear, you have skills that I need."

"What? The ability to shoot a bow and arrow and beat up low level goons. Yeesh, you really must have hit hard times." To her marvel, Luthor didn't lose his cool with her rudeness, but instead chuckled a bit.

"While those qualities are needed for this job, they are not the only ones you possess. I could have easily gotten someone else with more skill and less hassle. You, however have another skill set that is invaluable to me."

"My people skills right?" Bishop gave a short, bark like laugh, that reminded her of what she imagined Sirius Black's laugh to be like.

"You're knowledge of both the criminal and hero worlds makes you the only person who can pull off this job."

"Wonderful. So we know why you picked me out of all the other, more willing criminal psychopaths, but you haven't told me what this 'job' is." Artemis pointed out, adding in air quotes. Mercy arrived just then, with a bottle of Scotch and two glasses. "Only two? Maybe I changed my mind." Artemis quipped. Mercy rolled her eyes as she set down the tray.

"You're underage."

"And everyone here is terrified of breaking the law right?" Artemis said rolling her eyes.

"Thank you Mercy." The body guard nodded and took her leave. "The job I wish you to do for me is simple really. I want you to bring a special shipment to a business associate of mine. Then after he has completed his task involving the shipment, you are to bring it back to me." He explained while pouring the Scotch into the two glasses. Artemis blinked. Then she looked at Bishop who raised an eyebrow.

"You want me to play mailman?" Are you kidding me?" Luthor smiled.

"There's a catch. My associate first needs to be broken out of Belle Reve and then protected from certain individuals he sold out to get a reduced sentence." Artemis narrowed her eyes.

"Firstly, even if I was going to agree, which I'm not, just to be clear on that, who exactly did he piss off? Secondly, what's he making? And thirdly, what's in the shipment?" Luthor continued to smile while Bishop shook his head.

"All your questions will be answered if you agree."

"No." She told them bluntly. Luthor stood up.

"Perhaps I can starve you into drinking." He said suavely. He headed for the door, motioning for them to follow him. When Artemis didn't move, Bishop stood and pulled out a handgun.

"Let's move it Blondie." Artemis rolled her eyes but followed. She prayed that her texts had been received.

* * *

"So can I keep it? It's really working out for me!" Smokescreen gave Ratchet his best 'puppy dog' look. Artemis had told him that whenever you wanted something, all you had to do was pout a little while making your eyes as wide as possible. Surprisingly, Ratchet was quick to agree.

"Fine, fine, fine." He said waving his servos.

"Yes! Signature weapon! Arty's going to be so psyched!" It was with this declaration that Smokescreen remembered that Artemis had sent a few texts to him while in the middle of the fight. He scrolled through the first four, which all were simply asking where he was. On the last one however, his spark nearly stopped.

From: ArtyArcher  
Message: bad guys here. Pls hurry! Track phne!

It took a quarter of a second to realize what the abbreviated words were, a tenth of a second to read and understand them, and four seconds to whirl around, get to the groundbridge controls, turn it on, and speed as quickly as he could through the glowing green portal. The others tried yelling at him, but the new guy was solely focused on getting to his partner. He got through the groundbridge and drove down Artemis' street, not knowing where else to look, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He did a U-Turn at the end of her street and went back down it, scouring the area for clues. On his second time past, Jack came out of the house beside Artemis' and ran up to his window.

"Smokescreen! What the heck is going on? Arcee told me you just blew out of the base like you were on fire or something!" Jack exclaimed. Smokescreen opened the door, and Jack clambered into the passenger seat.

"Artemis texted me while I was out on a mission. She's in trouble and I have to find her!" He cried, passing her house again. Just then, outside his window, there was a yellow and red streak which suddenly turned into a red and yellow clothed boy, standing on Artemis' doorstep. Jack's eyes widened, and he sunk down below the window.

"Holy crap! That's Kid Flash!" He exclaimed.

"Who the Pit is Kid Flash?" Smokescreen demanded angrily. "Did he take her?" Jack shook his head.

"I don't think so. He's a hero! Sidekick to the Flash!"

"I thought Artemis said not to call them sidekicks." The brightly dressed boy seemed to be talking to someone on the phone as he too looked for clues about the blonde's abduction.

"So what exactly did the text say?" Jack asked as the pair watched the young hero work.

"She said that the bad guys were there, please hurry and to track her phone." Smokescreen explained.

"Wait. Who are the bad guys?" Smokescreen's tone suddenly darkened.

"I don't know. But I bet Fowler does. You stay here and see what you can find out from spandex boy over there." And without giving him any to protest, Smokescreen opened his door and jerked the teenager out onto the street. Kid Flash looked over when Smokescreen's tires squealed and he drove off into the Jasper desert.

"Uh. Hi." Jack stuttered.

"Who are you?" The ginger asked, walking towards the boy.

"Oh. Um, I'm Jack. I'm a friend of-" The rest of his sentence died in his throat as he realized he was probably not supposed to know that Artemis was a heroine.

"Hi. Kid Flash. You don't happen to know your neighbours do you? She's blonde, sarcastic, a real pain in the ass when you piss her off? Recently beat up a guy at her school because she's insane?" Jack blinked before nodding.

"Artemis? Yeah, we're friends."

"Do you know where she is?" Jack coughed.

"No. What happened?" KF sighed and ran a hand down his face.

"Nothing. Her Uncle is a friend of mine and he's worried about her. I'm just here to make sure she's okay. I'm sure she is though. Don't worry about it." He turned to leave just Jack caught his arm, before letting it go hastily and taking a few steps back.

"Listen, Mr. Kid Flash, Artemis is my friend. A good one. I know something's wrong, I just don't know what." The scarlet and yellow speedster looked like he was having an internal war with himself.

"She's missing. She texted her Uncle earlier today, but I- he was… busy and didn't get it until later. She said that some people who've been giving her trouble were with her and to try and follow her. But I can't figure out where they went."

"Maybe I can help with that." Said a new voice. Both boys looked over to see that a wheelchair bound Vietnamese woman was sitting in the doorway of Artemis' house. Kid Flash zoomed up to her immediately.

"Ms. Crock. Are you alright? Did you see anything? Do you know where Arty is?" He asked quickly. Ms. Crock shook her head sadly.

"All I know is I looked around for Artemis and called her, but she didn't reply. I can only assume the worst. I have failed her." The woman suddenly aged a few years as tears spilled over her wrinkled cheeks. The hero gave her a quick, but tight hug and stepped back.

"We'll find her." He said determinedly. Jack nodded as well.

"I got the security footage from the K.O Burger." She said, handing a USB stick to Kid Flash. He took it and plugged it into his glove and a video started to play on a holographic pop up. Jack peered over his shoulder to get a good look. The townie's eyes went wide as he recognized the van. Kid Flash on the other hand sighed.

"Alright. I'll this to Rob and see what he says. Take care Paula. Call me if you find anything else out, okay Jack. We'll get her back." He said, though it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything. Then he was gone. Jack turned to Paula.

"I didn't know you were on a first name basis with superheroes." Paula gave him a sad smile.

"I'm afraid there's a lot that you don't know about me. Get some sleep Jack." And she too was gone.

* * *

Smokescreen impatiently tapped his foot and glared at Fowler.

"Who has her?" He demanded. Folwer sighed heavily and pulled up a file on the computer. Optimus had taken a momentary break from decoding the rest of the Key's locations so they could sort out this more pressing matter.

"Lex Luthor. He's a businessman who has most of the US government is in his front pocket and he's richer than entire countries. He's also suspected of being involved in several criminal organizations and war mongering. His connections and money however, make it impossible to get any charges to stick. Plus with that blow hard Godfrey telling the public he's god's gift to the human race, the general public loves him as well." Folwer told the Autobots, Miko and Raf.

"He's also working with M.E.C.H." Jack's disembodied voice added. His voice print came up beside the Luthor file on the computer as he spoke. "Artemis' mom took a picture of the van that took her. It's a M.E.C.H transport van."

"So where is she?" Smokescreen demanded once again.

"Do you know if she had her cell phone on her?" Raf asked. Smokescreen nodded. "Well then I can track the signal. It has a GPS function, so as long as they didn't break it or turn it off, I'll be able to find her." He explained, typing furiously at the keyboard of his laptop. Smokescreen walked behind him to watch. "There. She's about an hour and a half's drive North East from here." Ratchet entered the co-ordinates into the groundbridge and opened it up. Smokescreen looked at the others.

"I'll go in alone. If there are too many of us, Luthor might see us, which would be even worse than M.E.C.H. I'll call if I need help." And he made a speedy exit via portal.

* * *

Artemis starred agape at the sight in front of her. It was a sight she'd never thought she'd see ever again.

"Dad." She whispered. Sportsmaster was wearing a straightjacket and sitting in a bland room that resembled an interrogation room. "But how? They found the body."

"You would be surprised how easy a fake dead body is to make. So here is the deal. You will deliver the package, then help Agent Bishop with his dilemma and then both you and your father will be set free." Luthor explained. Lawrence, whose mouth was gaged shook his head. He mumbled something that should have been 'don't baby girl,' but came out as incoherent.

"And if I say no?"

"You will both stay here until you relent or die."

"Tell me exactly what I'm doing and I'll consider it." Artemis told him, itching to race over to the blonde man and make sure he was really alright.

"I shall tell you over dinner tonight. For now, why don't you get reacquainted with your father?" Both criminals left the father and daughter alone and shut the door.

"I thought you were fish chow." Artemis stated. She hadn't moved toward him yet, only stared at him, drinking in his presence. He made another mumbled sound and she moved over to untie him.

"And I thought you were smarter than to get yourself captured." Artemis rolled her grey eyes.

"It was either go with him or get three seven year olds shot in front of their own homes." She responded. Crusher rolled his own eyes.

"You always were too soft. Being a hero has only made it worse."

"Oh give it a rest Dad. I'm not the one who betrayed my employers to save my kid."

"I'm too soft too." He muttered. She cracked a small smiled and hugged him for the first time in a very long while.

Mercy came to collect her for supper an hour later. She didn't have too hard a time saying goodbye since after the hug, it was either awkward silence or fighting. The food was simple, and the only company was Luthor and Bishop.

"So what exactly am I doing?"

"You will be bringing the salvaged parts of a machine to Professor Ivo. He will repair the machine and you will bring it back here. Easy as pie."

"So what's this machine do?" This time it was Bishop who responded.

"You will recall when you fought alongside the Autobots Bulkhead and Smokescreen against another Cybertronian." Artemis nodded. "That rouge Cybertronian was the first successful combination of man and machine. The system used to perform this is what you'll be transporting." Artemis nodded.

"So who did Ivo piss off this time?" Luthor took a bite of his food before answering.

"He assisted some terrorists with building a bomb before you're team arrested him. These terrorists were not pleased with being sold out." Artemis groaned. She _really _hated terrorists.

"This has to be one of the most convoluted things I have ever heard." Luthor chuckled.

"Maybe so. But if you wish for freedom for your father and yourself, you will do it."

"And what exactly does M.E.C.H. have to do with this?"

"You have information I require." Bishop shrugged. Artemis glared at him.

"Have I mentioned this whole situation is ludicrous? How do you expect me to break out a high security prisoner, protect him from terrorists while he makes some doomsday device and then get that back here?"

"Use your people skills." Luthor mocked. "Now I have some business to attend to in Metropolis. Until I return, Agent Bishop will be in charge. I should warn you Miss. Crock. Even if you do escape, we will simply come after you again." Artemis stuck up her nose and huffed. Just before Luthor got to the door, an explosion rocked the room and a very pissed off Autobot glared down at the humans.

* * *

Smokescreen turned on the Phase-Shifter and passed through the wall. He was thankful that the ceilings in this place were high rise and he could fit inside it. Avoiding humans in his true form proved more difficult then he would have liked, but by some miracle, he managed it, even if he did have to incapacitate a large number of fleshlings. By pure chance, his blonde partner walked out of a room accompanied by a bald man and a man with dark brown hair, just as he was slipping through the corridor. He followed as quietly as he could. When they walked into another room, he checked the hallway for more goons before listening at the door.

"Have I mentioned this whole situation is ludicrous? How do you expect me to break out a high security prisoner, protect him from terrorists while he makes some doomsday device and then get that back here?" Artemis' annoyed voice asked, coming from behind the door.

"Use your people skills." A mocking voice told her. "Now I have some business to attend to in Metropolis. Until I return, Agent Bishop will be in charge. I should warn you Miss. Crock. Even if you do escape, we will simply come after you again." Smokescreen felt his Energon heat up in anger. Without really pausing to consider the consequences, the furious mech took a step back before blasting a hole through the door. Artemis' blonde hair whipped back from the force of the explosion, but she seemed unharmed. The other two men with her suddenly took out guns and opened fire on the Cybertronian. The bullets only served to annoy him though, and while he brought his fists down on the bald man, Artemis wrapped her arms around the other man's throat. The bald man rolled away from his servos and the mercenary slipped out of Artemis' hold. The blonde took the opportunity however to vault over the bad guys and land near Smokescreen's foot.

"Took you long enough." She yelled angrily over the sound of gunfire.

"Better late than never though right Kiddo?" He smirked. She grinned as he passed her the bow her the bow he always had. She loaded it and fired three smoke arrows and when they filled the room with an impenetrable fog, the pair turned and bolted away.

* * *

**Yay Cliffhangers! :D See you all next week**


	11. Daring Escapes and Brotherly Bonding

**I'm sorry this took so long after a cliff hanger but I was away and this was an extremely difficult chapter to write. I wanted to get it up ASAP and am still not totally happy with it. So please forgive any errors! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

She grinned as he passed her the bow he always had. She loaded it and fired three smoke arrows and when they filled the room with an impenetrable fog, the pair turned and bolted away. Smokescreen fired into the hallway he had come from, but when he turned to make sure Artemis was still with him, he discovered she had gone the other way.

"Kid! The exit's this way!" He yelled to her. By this point, a horde of henchmen from both M.E.C.H and LexCorp had arrived and opened fire on the Autobot. No one was aiming for Artemis, seeing as they needed her alive, but instead they were throwing everything they had at Smokescreen.

"I need to grab something! Hold them off! I'll be right there!" She yelled, still running in the opposite direction. The smoke from her arrows was getting thicker with the added debris from the machine guns and Smokescreen quickly lost sight of his charge; again.

"I really hate humans." Smokescreen murmured half-heartedly to himself, as some goons started dragging out a rocket launcher. The Autobot sprinted down the hallway after his archer, trying to avoid being blown to pieces by the high grade explosives currently aimed at his back. "ARTEMIS! WHERE ARE YOU?!" He yelled into the thick fog. He charged blindly around a corner to avoid the rocket, which blew up a large section of the wall it hit. As he ran into a hallway with significantly less smoke, he caught sight of the end of Artemis' ponytail, turning a corner. "Hey! Kid, wait up!" He ran around the corner to see Artemis crouching in front of a door.

"What took you?" She asked smugly. Smokescreen narrowed his optics and glared at her.

"You suck, you know that?" He grumbled kneeling down next to her and bringing out his blasters.

"Aw don't be jealous Hotshot." She grinned. A few guards happened upon them, but Smokescreen made short work of them.

"What are we doing here anyways?" He asked after the men were blown backwards.

"Parental control." She said cryptically. Smokescreen looked confused.

"But your mom's in Jasper still…" He said.

"Humans have two parents remember." She said dryly.

"But isn't your dad… you know?"

"You'd think. Turns out, he's a lot harder to kill then we all thought. Which is saying something." The gears in Smokescreen's processor began to turn.

"So you're dad's alive, in that room?" He asked, rather appalled. Artemis nodded.

"The only thing is, the less people who know about you guys the better, so we'll have to knock him out or something." Smokescreen nodded in agreement as Artemis finally picked the lock. "Okay, wait out here." The girl once again disappeared into the room. There were muffled noises that sounded like Artemis was reassuring someone of something. Then there a deeper voice which cut of suddenly. A dragging noise and Artemis reappeared dragging a large blonde man. "Help me with him." She requested. The Autobot gently lifted the man into his servo and held him tightly.

"Great now what?" As he spoke, the mercenaries and employees of M.E.C.H and LexCorp discovered the pair and started yelling.

"Now we run for our lives." She muttered looking wide-eyed at the large amount of firearms the men were packing. Smokescreen nodded and transformed. Artemis leaped through his window just as she had when he came to pick her up in the mornings. His engine revved once and then they were screeching away. Artemis was pressed up again the back of her seat as Smokescreen started pushing one hundred and ten.

"Do you know where we're going?" She asked worriedly. Her father stirred in the back seat but remained asleep.

"'Course I do. The exit is around this corner." The exit that Smokescreen was referring to was a hangar that he had seen when he was chasing after Artemis. As they rounded the corner, Smokescreen was forced to slam the breaks and sequel to a halting stop. Agent Bishop stood proudly at the front of a small battalion of armed guards. "Or not."

"Going somewhere, Miss Crock?" Bishop asked smugly.

"Okay, let's go back!" The Autobot switched to reverse and they hightailed it out of the hangar. Artemis couldn't help the surprised yelp when they rounded a corner particularly quickly. Smokescreen snickered a little, but when the guards started firing at them again, his mirth quickly disappeared. They raced down the hallway.

"Any ideas?" He asked. Artemis, who had her eyes screwed up in a panic, opened one as she thought.

"You did make a rather impressive hole when you came in here. Head that way!"

"Will do!" The rounded another corner impossibly fast, and though she was used to high speeds from hanging out with the Flashes, driving this fast with Smokescreen was unnerving her greatly. She let out another yelp as they swerved to avoid some debris.

"Geez, you'd think you've never been in a car chase before."

"Normally the car chases I'm involved in have an alien Bio-ship not and alien robot! So excuse me for being jumpy." She snapped harshly.

"What don't you trust me?" Smokescreen joked, swerving again. Artemis clutched the arm rests and looked out the rear mirror.

"Just focus on the road." She muttered. Smokescreen felt a pang in his spark. His little human partner didn't trust him. They kept driving through the base until something caught the Elite Guard's eye and he stomped on the breaks.

"What the hell are you doing? Army of armed psychopaths on our tail remember?" Artemis shrieked. Smokescreen reversed several feet and turned left sharply. There was a clear path to the hole in the wall that the rocket launcher had made.

"I see the light baby!" Smokescreen crowed as they hurtled towards the opening. Artemis screwed up her eyes once again. The hero and unconscious villain slipped through the opening and continued to drive through the night. After they'd driven a kilometer or so, they came to a small wooded area and Smokescreen finally slowed. Artemis stumbled out and collapsed on the ground. Smokescreen transformed, and laid her father down beside a large oak tree and knelt down beside her. "Hey, are you okay? Are you injured?" Artemis shook her head and grabbed a fist full of dirt.

"No, I'm fine. Just happy to be on solid ground again." Smokescreen frowned at her.

"Why don't you trust me?" He asked, sounding hurt. Artemis picked herself up and looked into his sad optics. Guilt quickly seeped into her mind.

"Listen Hotshot, it's not that I don't trust you, it's that I don't like being shot at." She mumbled looking away. Smokescreen didn't look convinced.

"I thought you were used to getting shot at." He told her. Artemis sighed and sat down cross legged on the grass. She looked at her father to make sure he was still out cold and motioned for Smokescreen to sit with her.

"Would you believe I don't like cars?" He gave her a dry look.

"Not even a little bit. I saw you checking out that convertible the other day." Artemis felt her cheeks go inexplicably hot, just like when Robin accused her of checking out Icicle Jr. before she left.

"I was looking at the dress in the window behind the car…" she defended.

"Yeah, and I believe that even less. Come on Kiddo! Why don't you trust me? What have I done?" He pleaded. Her eyes went hard and she folded her arms across her chest.

"I have issues with trust okay. Now can we go before more of Luthor and M.E.C.H's goons show up?" Smokescreen sensed this was not the time to push her. They both stood up and Artemis quickly went to her father, avoiding eye contact with her Autobot. He was slowly gaining consciousness, so Smokescreen transformed and waited patiently.

"Dad?" Artemis asked tentatively.

"What is it?" He snapped at her once he'd woken up. Smokescreen marveled at how similar they sounded.

"Get up. We're still not safe." She told him coldly.

"Yeah well you'll never be _safe_ baby girl. Not while they want you." Sportsmaster shot back, using the tree to help him get to his feet. They had a brief stare off before the elder Crock motioned at Smokescreen. "That our ride out of here?" He asked. Artemis nodded stiffly and went to get in the driver side. "I'll drive."

"No. You just woke up from a head injury, there's no way I'm letting you drive." She said firmly, pointing to the passenger door. Sportsmaster frowned.

"And whose fault is that?" He muttered, climbing into the passenger seat.

"Your own for standing under an unstable part of the ceiling." Artemis pantomimed starting the car and driving it towards the highway. Dead silence filled Smokescreen's interior for a good hour. Finally Sportsmaster spoke.

"So where'd you get this bucket of bolts? I didn't know heroes got a severance package." Smokescreen revved his engine in indignation, but Lawrence didn't comment.

"It was a present from… Green Arrow." Artemis lied, hoping the news wouldn't get back to her mentor. Sportsmaster looked a bit put out.

"You know if you had stayed with me, I would have bought you a car for your sixteenth birthday." Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean bought? You haven't made an honest buck in your life!" Lawrence scoffed and looked out the window once again. They kept driving until a streak of red and yellow made Artemis slam on the breaks. Smokescreen hissed at the unfamiliar action and came to a harsh stop.

"What are you doing?!" Sportsmaster raged. But Artemis didn't hear him as she jumped out from the car. She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. The lack of other cars and the open space allowed the sound to carry a few miles. "I asked you a question." He growled getting out of the car. Artemis whistled again, this time longer.

"And I ignored you." She told him. She let out another ear piercing whistle.

"And I thought I taught you manners." He sneered, threatening advancing on his daughter. Artemis wasn't facing him and didn't notice him creeping up on her. Smokescreen on the other hand, was watching her father like a hawk. Just as he was about to backhand his daughter, Smokescreen transformed. Hearing the tell-tale clicks and whirs of a Cybertronian transformation, both Crocks turned around to see Smokescreen in all his Autobot glory. Sportsmaster's eyes widened comically and while he was distracted, Artemis hit him with a nerve blow. Once again, the villain crumpled to the ground.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!" Artemis screamed. Smokescreen raised an eyebrow.

"What have I done now?"

"I can't believe you just revealed yourself to my psychotic father!" Artemis yelled loudly, having a minor freak out.

"He was going to hit you!" Smokescreen protested.

"I knew he was behind me! I told you I could take care of myself!"

"Well I told you that I wouldn't let you get hurt!"

"You should have trusted me!"

"I was trying to make you trust me!" Artemis went silent and the two had a stare down. Then somebody coughed. Both human and Autobot stiffened comically. Slowly they both turned around to see a red headed boy in a yellow and red costume looking in between them.

"And I thought we argued like nuts." Wally chuckled nervously. Artemis slowly walked over to her boyfriend who was looking rather pale.

"Babe? Are you alright?" She asked tentatively. Wally laughed nervously again.

"No, no. You know, after searching the entire country for my girlfriend who I've been terrified for, finally finding her in the middle of Nevada with her unconscious criminal father who was believed to be dead and a giant talking robot, who wouldn't be fine?" He said a little too cheerfully. He weakly pointed at Smokescreen. "So, uh, who made him?"

"MADE?!" Smokescreen said indignantly. Artemis quickly intervened.

"He's a sentient alien robot. No one made him." She explained quickly.

"And you're running around with him and having arguments next to your unconscious father why?" Artemis and Smokescreen exchanged a look.

"She uh, found me. I crash landed near Jasper and found her fighting off some M.E.C.H goons. I helped out and she helped me hide amongst the humans." Wally looked a bit skeptical but didn't question it.

"And Sportsmaster?"

"Luthor's work. He's the one behind all the threats and attacks. Turns out, he's a lot harder to get rid of then we thought. But we need to get him to a penitentiary. Before he pull a Cheshire." Wally nodded.

"So are we running? Because I don't think I can carry all three of you." Artemis grinned and looked at Smokescreen.

"Show him what you got Hotshot!" Smokescreen smiled and complied, changing back into a car.

"So. Freaking. Cool." Wally said in awe. Artemis smirked at him and went to drag her father over.

"Come on Kid Nerd." The pair dumped Sportsmaster into the back seat and Smokescreen took off.

"So how were you created? What do you run off of? Is there someone controlling you? What planet do you come from? Do you have any technology besides yourself there? Why were you near earth?" Wally asked as they drove towards Jasper. Smokescreen chuckled a little.

"He sounds like Miko."

"Believe me when you get him on a science rant, he's worse than Miko!"

"Hey!" Wally cried, feeling indignant. Archer and Autobot laughed, but Smokescreen did his best to answer all of Wally's questions. When he asked anything that the blonde didn't want her teammate to hear, she would lightly press on the accelerator and Smokescreen would lie; he was far better at it then her. It only took a quarter of the trip for the boys to become best friends.

"…And then we filled his car full of hamburgers!" And it took half the trip for Artemis to become immensely annoyed with the two of them. And now they were approaching the city limits.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! That's amazing! Robin would love you! One time, the two of us switched all of Artemis' clothes with Robin and Kid Flash outfits! It was priceless!" Both boys quickly fell into peals of laughter.

"Yeah, hardy har har. Are we there yet?" She asked testily. Wally gave her a placating smile.

"Come on Babe. You should be pleased that we're getting along."

"Just like when you and Robin resolved your fight by pranking everyone associated in the Justice League?" She asked skeptically. Wally grinned cheekily.

"You know you love us." Artemis groaned.

"Did you call the others to come pick up daddy dearest or not?"

"Yes dear." Smokescreen snickered.

"Good. But you can't tell them about Smoky!" Wally's childish grin faded.

"Why not?"

"Because then the League would find out, or the government and they would take him away and experiment on him and stuff!" She exclaimed. Wally looked skeptical.

"Babe…" Artemis gave him her best puppy dog pout.

"Wally. I need you to trust me on this. No one can know about him." Wally sighed deeply, as if he knew he was going to regret agreeing to her.

"Alright. It'll be our little secret." She smiled largely as they pulled up to the city limits sign. The Bio-Ship was already waiting for them. Artemis got out of the car and was promptly smothered by her friends.

"ARTEMIS! I WAS SO WORRIED!" Oliver cried holding tightly to his niece. Zatanna, M'gann and Raquel followed suit. Robin, Kaldur, Conner and Roy also had their turn. Artemis smiled and hugged them back. After assuring them that she was fine and handing over her father, Green Arrow demanded he take her home. That didn't exactly go over well.

"Oliver, I'm a big girl. It's like a ten minute drive. I'll be fine!"

"Your mother said you got taken from your house! We all thought you'd be fine there too,"

"Mother exaggerates. I was at a burger joint. They don't know where I live, and I know for a fact you have government surveillance on Jasper, so they won't come looking." Oliver looked angry, but with Sportsmaster starting to wake up again, he was forced to let her go. She gave them all one last hug, (though Wally got a rather passionate kiss, which neither Smokescreen or Oliver were happy about.) and got into the Autobot and they started to drive.

"We're heading for the Base right?"

"Yup."

"Good."

"Art, we need to talk."

* * *

**Well I'm not the happiest with it, but it'll do. Tell me what you think! :D**


	12. Talk to Me

**Hey guys! I'm sorry this took so long! I've had no time to sit down on a computer and write for anything longer than fifteen minutes! But it's here now, so I hope you enjoy! Thank you all for your awesome reviews and amazing support! A special shout out to SuperHeroTimeFan for their awesome ideas and constant encouragement! :D Be sure to check out their work! And without further ado, enjoy!**

* * *

The wind whistled through the new doorway. Bishop growled in annoyance as he surveyed the damages. Besides the large hole in the wall, the hallways were riddled with laser burns and bullet holes, and the dining hall was a shambles. The mercenary growled again and whipped his head over to the LexCorp goon that was standing behind him.

"You want to tell how one girl and her robot guard dog managed to cost us more in damages than the entire United States government?" He snapped.

"The robot is an alien warrior with technology light-years ahead of our own. We were simply unprepared for them." The goon said simply. He had been in the evil underling game a long time, and having his employer or higher up have a tantrum in front of him was commonplace.

"Aren't you supposed to be the technology company?" Bishop muttered spitefully.

"Haven't you been fighting the robots for almost a year now?" The goon responded. Bishop glared at the man.

"Find. Me. That. Girl." He snarled before walking away. "I don't care how you do it, but I want her and her little friends."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Artemis looked out the window as they drove towards the base.

"You sure your mom won't mind?" Artemis shrugged.

"As long as she knows I'm safe she'll be fine. I assume that GA has already notified her. And I sent her a text. "

"Are you sure? She is your mother." Artemis rolled her eyes.

"She's used to it. Believe me, I'm more worried about Optimus." They drove in silence for a bit while Smokescreen tried to think of how to start off the conversation.

"So I was serious when I said we needed to talk."

"So talk."

"Will you participate in the conversation?"

"Probably not. I don't really feel like talking right now." She grumbled. Smokescreen internally sighed.

"Okay fine. Then I'll talk. Kiddo, you know you can trust me, right? After all, I did come after you! It would have been so much easier just to pretend you'd never found me, but I still risked life and limb to come get you!"

"I know that!" She muttered folding her arms protectively across her chest.

"Then why don't you trust me?"

"Because I have issues alright?"

"Then how do I get you to trust me?"

"Why do you care so much anyways? You're only hanging around with me because Optimus told you to!" Smokescreen snorted.

"Okay Arty. Whatever you say." He muttered sarcastically.

"It's true! I'm just a weak, burdensome human you have to protect!"

"You're seriously going with this? Art, I get that you don't like letting people get too close, but I'm not a person. I'm an ass-kicking hyper advanced alien robot."

"A modest one at that." She whispered under her breath.

"Kid, if I really thought you were a burden, I wouldn't spend all of my time with you, now would I? If I really didn't think you couldn't handle yourself, I would drive you to school, pick you up, and drop you at the base and leave." He paused in his speech to let the words sink in. "I _like _hanging around with you. You're my favorite person at the base, and the only one I can be totally myself around." Artemis glanced at the Autobot symbol on Smokescreen's wheel. "I've seen you fight and I know you're capable. I swear, I will never intentionally hurt you." Artemis remained silent for a while.

"When I was a kid, promises meant nothing. 'I promise I'll be home soon.' 'I promise not to hurt you.' 'I promise I won't leave you.' Spoken word meant nothing to my family. In fact, if something was preceded by 'I promise,' it usually meant the opposite would happen." Artemis told him darkly. "Then mom went to jail and Jade left, so it was just me and my father. Not trusting anyone was how you survived. It took me a long time to learn that. I got burned, so many times. It's not a lesson you forget easily."

"I don't want you to trust everyone you meet. Clearly, there are distrustful humans on this planet. But I want you to realize, I will protect you. If we're going to be partners, you need to know that." Artemis took a deep breath. "I know that this conversation isn't going to suddenly change your past, and let you trust me as easily as the other kids. I just wanted you know that." Smokescreen had apparently timed his speech so that they arrived at the base at the end of it. The secret door opened and they drove in and parked in the main hangar. Artemis undid her seat belt but paused before opening the door.

"Hotshot? Thanks." She whispered.

"Anytime kiddo." Artemis jumped out of the car, and was quickly swarmed by Jack, Miko and Raf.

"Are you okay? What happened? Where did they take you? What did they want with you? Who were they? Was it something to do with your team?" They asked in a rush of questions while Smokescreen transformed behind them. Miko had wrapped her skinny arms around Artemis' torso and Raf and Jack looked at her with concern.

"Are you okay 'Mis?" Raf asked worriedly. Artemis disentangled herself from Miko's arms and knelt down to look Raf in the eye.

"I'm alright. Really. I didn't even get shot at!" She explained. The younger boy looked skeptical, but nodded anyways. Jack eyed her suspiciously.

"Are you sure? Because, most people would at very least be messed up in the head if they were kidnapped." He pointed out.

"Are most people you know super heroes who get themselves kidnapped every other week?" Artemis shrugged. The other Autobots had arrived and were looking at the blonde with relief. Bumblebee made several happy beeps and whirs and Artemis smiled at him.

"Glad to see you too buddy." Sometimes, the black and yellow Autobot reminded her of Robin, in the best way possible.

"Are you certain you are unharmed?" Optimus asked, his voice full of concern. Artemis nodded.

"Yes! Believe me, Luthor's too much of a businessman to harm someone he wants to employ. All he did was make me an offer I had to refuse. Then Smokescreen showed up and we came home." Artemis summarized. Arcee looked over at Smokescreen critically.

"And where were you when she needed you?" She hissed. Smokescreen looked straight at her.

"I was wrapping up here." He said respectively, but with a harsh look in his eye. Arcee stopped glaring and nodded. After being assured that Artemis was alright, Optimus had gone back to decoding the next set of co-ordinates, but the others continued to stare at her concernedly.

"Seriously, I'm fine! In fact it was a nice break from the monotony. Not to mention Luthor is going to need a new warehouse." Artemis said. Ratchet shook his head.

"You're penchant for violence never ceases to amaze me." He muttered, turning his attention back to whatever project he had been working on before. Artemis smiled fondly at him and turned back to the others.

"Well, I have to go let my mom know I'm safe. I'll see you guys tomorrow at school alright?" They said their goodbyes, and Artemis climbed into Smokescreen.

* * *

"You know, I'm beginning to think that I've spent more time inside of you then looking at your true form." She noted as they headed towards her home. Smokescreen laughed gently.

"That's probably not too far off…" They lapsed into a comfortable silence, as they usually did. Once they reached her new house, Artemis slipped from the car and patted her guardian's hood.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning for school, alright?"

"Art, you've had a rough few days. Why don't you take tomorrow off?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm used to late nights. Besides, I haven't been to a full day of school in a week. I think I owe it to my scholarship to at least go for a full day!"

"Well, if you change your mind, just text me!" She nodded and walked towards her door. "Because texting has worked so well in the past." He muttered and turned off his engine and put on his park break. He watched her get inside her house and the lights flicker on in the living room. He smiled gently to himself as he settled in to stay the night.

Artemis' mother was overjoyed to see her daughter safe and sound, and the two ended up drinking tea and talking late into the night. By the time they realized how late it was, it was already three in the morning. Paula tried to tell her youngest daughter to sleep in, but the girl refused.

"Come on Mom! You know I can't sleep in! Besides, I spent so much time with Robin, I may as well be a Bat myself." Paula shook her head.

"Fine, but I don't want you to use an alarm clock. Get up on your own, or sleep in. Lord knows you need it." Artemis smiled and gave her mother the tightest hug she could.

"I love you mom. So much." She whispered in her ear.

"I love you too sweetheart. Get some rest." Artemis kissed her cheek and went to her room. Paula said a quick thank you to whatever deity was watching over daughter and went to bed herself.

* * *

The next morning, Artemis slept in until eight thirty eight, and then woke up, with plenty of energy and twenty seven minutes to get to school on time. Figuring that she should probably get there on time and that she had worked hard enough over the past few days, the blonde skipped her morning training routine, and simply got dressed for school. In order to hide her bruises, and the wrist burn the ropes had given her, she wore dark wash skinny jeans and the green 'Sidekicks' t-shirt that the boys had given her for Easter last year. It had Robin, Kid Flash, Speedy and Aqualad's symbol in a line down the left side of the fabric and 'Don't Call Us Sidekicks' written on the back. It was long sleeved, and covered all of her injuries nicely. She had left her backpack at school the day she had been taken to visit with Luthor, so she grabbed only a piece of toast, left her mother a note, and departed by her front door. Smokescreen was waiting for her across the street in the same spot he had dropped her off. She shrugged and ran over to him.

"Heya Hotshot! What's up?" Smokescreen woke up from his stasis nap and opened his door.

"Not a thing. Ready for school?" Artemis scoffed.

"Of course not. School is just another torture chamber, only slightly more villainous."

"You've been in a torture chamber?!" Smokescreen cried worriedly, as they headed for the school.

"Well Joker kidnapped me once and he made his own torture chamber in a warehouse somewhere. And I got a tour of the League of Shadows when I was seven." She shrugged. Smokescreen would have face palmed had he been in his robot mode. They arrived at the school and Artemis jumped out. She offered to walk from a block away as usual, but the Autobot was still feeling a little protective and insisted he take her right to the door. The archer smiled and waved goodbye, before heading inside to pick up her things from her locker. Jack, Miko and Raf were already waiting for her by the familiar metal door.

"Artemis!" Miko called happily. "Finally you're back! We missed you while you were at your grandma's" The Japanese girl exclaimed woodenly. Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"Miko, what on Earth are you doing? You saw me last-"

"Week. I saw you last week."

"What are you talking about? Hotshot brought me by last night. You were there!"

"Tch. You must have been dreaming. Because the last time we saw you was a few days ago. Right, Jack and Raf?"

"Has she lost it?" Jack shook his head and Raf gave her a half smile.

"She seems to think that people will think it's odd you keep missing days, so she's trying to cover for it." Raf explained sheepishly.

"I told you it was a stupid idea." Jack muttered. Artemis smiled and chuckled.

"I cut class all the time. It's no big deal." Miko looked rather put out.

"My plan would have worked too ya know." She pouted. The other three snickered quietly and turned the discussion to something less identity endangering. They didn't have long to chat since home room was about to start, but it was nice to see the trio again and have a real talk with them. The bell rang and Jack and Artemis parted ways with Miko and Raf, promising to meet up for lunch later. The duo took their seats in the back of the room and kept chatting.

"You didn't miss much in anything really. Though Miko did nearly take of Vince's head yesterday when he made a snide comment about you being gone again." Artemis chuckled.

"Well at least he cares enough to notice I was gone." She smirked.

"That's… one way of looking at it I guess." They both snickered.

"So I know we didn't really get a chance to talk last night, but I'm really sorry for disappearing like that." She told him quietly, once they had finished laughing. "I didn't mean to worry you- any of you." Jack nodded.

"Just, don't do that again. I thought you know who was going to blow a gasket he was so worried." Artemis looked guilty and played with a pencil.

"Sorry." Jack put a hand on her shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault. Sometimes things like this happen. You can't control what other people do." She didn't respond, but smiled at him gratefully as the teacher came in and told the class to settle down.

Artemis found that returning to school after being kidnapped was actually not all that bad. After the ordeal, the restlessness she had felt since her friends had visited, had evaporated and left her far happier than before. She figured she was just the type of person who needed action and excitement in her life. If she didn't put her life on the line every other week or so, she'd go stir crazy. However, even an adventure depraved Artemis knew there was a time and a place for excitement. And lunchtime at her high school in Jasper was neither the time nor the place. And having a 'heart to heart' with her nosy fellow Gothamite, was not the type of excitement she was hoping for either.

"Artemis, you need to tell us what's going on!" Dick exclaimed. Artemis dragged his skinny butt around the corner and away from the prying eyes of the other students. Dick fixed her with his best Bat glare, the full force of it coming from his naked eyes. "I'm serious. We're worried about you." He hissed.

"What the hell are you doing here? Are you _trying_ to blow my cover?" She snapped furiously. Dick kept glaring.

"I Zeta-Beamed into Vegas last night after we made sure Sportsmaster was safely locked away and drove the Batmobile in this morning." He told her. Artemis momentarily forgot her anger.

"Bats lets you drive that thing? And how did no one notice you driving that thing down the interstate?" She asked in surprise.

"I'll tell you if you tell me." He said uncharacteristically darkly. Artemis raised an eyebrow at him and folded her arms. He intensified his glare.

"Artemis?" A voice asked. Both heroes whipped their heads over to find Jack, Miko and Raf watching them. All three had their arms crossed, and were no doubt trying to look intimidating. They probably would too, had Dick not grown up in Gotham and fought some of the scariest villains in the world. Dick's glare lost some of its passion but he remained aggressive. Jack glared at him. "You alright there Arty?"

"It's fine Jack. Just catching up with an old friend."

"Is this the same type of friends you met up with a few days ago? Cause Bulky could be here in five minutes flat." Miko said masking her normally kind and bubbly nature.

"No. He's a good guy." Raf kept glaring untrustingly at him. Artemis gave him a confident nod. "It's alright. I just need to wrap some stuff up here and I'll meet you by our usual table okay?" She promised. The other three nodded.

"Call us if you need anything." Jack told her before leading the others away. Just as she was turning around the corner, Miko paused and pointed her middle and index fingers to her eyes and then at Dick. Once they had left the unmasked Boy of Wonder turned back to the on probation archer.

"I worried about you. We all are." Artemis rolled her eyes.

"I saw you guys last night. And I'm fine. I can take care of myself." Dick raised an eyebrow.

"That's not what Wally said." Artemis suddenly felt her temper flare and she slammed the boy against a wall before he could react. He grunted as she pinned him there.

"Wally doesn't know anything about what has been happening out here. You ditched me out here remember?" She snarled angrily. Dick broke out of her hold and tried to flip their positions. Artemis ducked and swung a punch, which was easily blocked.

"ARTEMIS! Just tell me what's wrong!" He begged her. She anger evaporated with his pleading voice. She sighed and lowered her fist. Dick's blue eyes gazed up at her. They weren't exactly the same shade as Smokescreen's but they were similar. And the effect was defiantly the same.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just trying to get my life on track for once." She told him. "I know that's going to be hard to do with Luthor and all, but I can handle this! All I need is for you guys to tighten security around Ivo, and try to find some terrorists. And you to trust me." She beseeched him. Dick pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Arty, how exactly are you planning on staving off all of Luthor's forces by yourself?"

"Why don't you ask Kid Blabbermouth?"

"Because he wouldn't tell. Not even when Kaldur asked, Roy threatened and Oliver nearly took his head off. He wouldn't even tell me." Dick said, looking rather put out. Artemis put a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, I asked him not to tell any of you guys. It's something I need to handle on my own." Dick looked at her skeptically and sighed over dramatically.

"I'm not sure why I am, but I'll trust you. But please, take this and promise me you'll use it." He said, handing her a circular object. She took it and realized it was a communicator. It matched her colour scheme perfectly and had her symbol engraved upon it. "As long as you're on this continent, you'll never be out of range. It also will work from six hundred meters below the earth. Plus the bad guys need a special scrambler in order to block the signal. I also added in a special voice activated feature that will let you call for help from five feet away!" Dick told her proudly. "All you have to say is, 'I just need some help getting traught." As soon as the words left his mouth, a blinking light started flashing in his pocket. "Works like a charm." He smirked as he deactivated his own personalized communicator.

"Impressive. I promise, if I see anything that resembles a bald Conner, I'll send you a memo. Until then, please, don't worry about me! I'll be fine."

"If you say so. Just remember to call us any time okay?" Artemis nodded and pulled him into a tight hug. "Now get going before you new boyfriends come looking for you." Artemis slapped his shoulder.

"Dick. They're my friends and if you repeat that to Wally I'll pluck your feathers!" She threatened before walking casually away. She turned the corner and paused. "Oh, and you may want to get Zatanna a decent anniversary gift before next week. Just saying." She added before disappearing around the corner and entered a war zone. Kids were chanting while two figures wrestled on the ground. Miko's hair had half fallen out, and both she and the girl she was fight were covered in dirt. Nearby, Jack and Vince were screaming at each other and Raf was trying to convince the girls to break up their cat fight. Artemis rushed over to the younger boy.

"What's going on here?" She demanded.

"Everyone's gone crazy!" Raf exclaimed.

"But why is Miko trying to claw that chick's eyes out?"

"Well, I think Miko failed a math test this morning and then when Keisha called her a stupid shame to her family, she kinda lost it." Raf explained gesturing to the girls. "And then when Vince starting laughing, Jack told him to shut up and they got into a screaming match. So once again, I'm the only sane man left."

"Hey, we're all mad here." Artemis shrugged.

"But you're the worst." Raf sighed, shaking his head at her reference. Artemis smiled and tousled his hair just as Vince lost his temper and swung his fist at Jack's face. Instinct let Jack avoid the blow and he tried to counter with a punch of his own. Artemis winced at the terrible form; it was obvious he was attacking using moves he'd seen on TV. Just before the boys could do anything really violent, the teachers showed up and pulled the four fighting kids apart and marched them down to the office.

* * *

The rest of the day was filled with gossip about the dual fights at lunch time, and not about Artemis sneaking around with a dark-haired boy. This was perfectly okay with the archer and she found that she didn't hate being in her classes that afternoon. After school, she and Raf met up where Smokescreen and Bumblebee were parked.

"Do you think we should wait for Jack and Miko?" Raf asked.

"Might as well! It's a beautiful day!" The pair leaned up against their respective guardian and pulled out their homework. Artemis had quite a bit more then Raf, seeing as she hadn't been at school for a day and a half. Luckily, Raf volunteered to help her with it and she assisted him with his history and French. They talked about random things and enjoyed each other's company while Smokescreen scanned the street with paranoid optics.

"So what's the coolest thing you've ever done?" Raf asked while he solved a chemical equation. Artemis thought about it for a moment.

"Meeting you guys and the Team." She answered. Bumblebee chirped disbelievingly at her. "Okay, okay. Besides meeting my idols and ass kicking alien robots, the coolest thing would probably be… saving the Team from some evil robots. No offence." Raf laughed his quiet little laugh and Bumblebee made an indignant noise.

"I'm sure she would have a harder time fighting you Bee." Raf smiled. Artemis chuckled along with her smaller friend and conjugated a French verb. The rest of the hour that Miko and Jack were in detention passed quickly, and soon both were sullenly walking from the building. It made more sense for Smokescreen and Bumblebee to bring the four teenagers to base instead of Bulkhead and Arcee driving all the way out there, so Jack climbed into Smokescreen's passenger seat and Miko clambered in next to Rafael. Now that Jack was closer, the archer could see the bruise on his cheek. She refrained from commenting on it directly, and both Autobots began driving towards the Base.

"So how was detention?" Artemis asked conversationally. Jack shot her an annoyed look.

"It was boring and pointless." Artemis smirked.

"That's what happens when you fight at school. Besides, it's not that bad."

"Some of us don't have Super Friends to break us out when we lose our tempers." He snapped. Smokescreen and Artemis snickered.

"Alright, good point. But why'd you fight with Vince anyways? Aren't you the one who's always telling me and Miko to mind our tempers?" Jack rolled his eyes.

"I'm tired of Vince being an asshole to everyone and no one doing anything about it." He muttered.

"Ancient proverb; 'A man is about as big as the things that make him angry.'" Artemis said with a Vietnamese accent neither Jack nor Smokescreen realized she could use.

"Where'd you get that from?" Smokescreen asked.

"One of mom's old sayings she used when she wanted to annoy me and Jade when we fought or misbehaved." Jack shook his head.

"I just lost my temper when he called Miko a freak show who needs to be deported. And then Raf a geeky nerd who should be locked up in a lab for future study. And you a psychotic criminal who belongs in a prison." Smokescreen huffed angrily.

"You should have called me. I would have beat the stuffing out of him." The alien growled.

"Oh, yeah that would have been subtle. Besides, I'm simply impressed you didn't immediately fight back when Vince called you a loser townie with no future."

"How'd you know he called me that?"

"I have ears. It's all anyone would talk about all day." Jack groaned.

"I am so dead when I get home."

"Good thing we aren't heading that way right now." Smokescreen pointed out.

"Besides, I'm certain Optimus will right an excuse note for his _favorite_ human." Artemis teased. Jack groaned and sunk down in his seat. Artemis and Smokescreen kept laughing until they reached the base while Jack scowled out the window. When they reached the base, Artemis was still snickering as they pulled into the main hangar. Smokescreen let them both out of the car and transformed. Jack quickly walked away as Bumblebee pulled in with Raf and Miko.

"Bulk? Where are you?" Miko yelled, her voice echoing throughout the entire base. Immediately the heavy footfalls of giants thundered through the halls.

"Is it just me, or did Bulkhead gain a few hundred pounds?" Artemis asked, feeling the ground shake more than usual. Just then, Arcee, Bulkhead and a red green and white Bot walked in.

"JACKIE!" Miko squealed, running over to the Wrecker.

* * *

**I hope you liked it! The good news is that I have the next chapter half done, so the next update should be done super fast! In the meantime, tell me what you thought! See you soon! (I hope!) :D**


	13. How to Build a Better Arrow

**Here we go! I don't have much to say, except for thank you so much for all the amazing reviews! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"JACKIE!" Miko squealed, running over to the Wrecker. Artemis raised an eyebrow and looked over at Smokescreen. However instead of an explanation, she was met with a star struck fanboy.

"Whoa. I didn't know Wheeljack was on Earth!" He breathed. Artemis rolled her eyes hypocritically. It's not like she was any better when she first met Green Arrow and the rest of the League.

"Uh, Rafi? Who's Wheeljack?" The blonde asked, leaning down to his height while the others rushed to greet the Wrecker.

"He's a member of Bulkhead's old war unit; The Wreckers. Apparently they were the Autobot equivalent of the A-Team." Artemis covered a snort behind her hand.

"So which one is Wheeljack?"

"I'd say he's a cross of Hannibal and Mr. T." Artemis looked over at the new comer and appraised him.

"Sounds like my kind of Bot." Finally, Wheeljack tore his eyes away from Miko and Bulkhead and noticed the newbies.

"Jackie, meet Team Prime's newest member; Smokescreen." Bulkhead introduced. The rookie saluted so rigidly, Artemis feared he might snap in half.

"It's an honor to meet you!" He gushed. Wheeljack smiled cockily at him.

"Back at ya. Gotten used to the planet yet?" Smokescreen looked down at his partner, who was tapping her foot impatiently.

"With some help." Artemis grinned and climbed onto Smokescreen's extended servo. "Meet my partner, Artemis." Wheeljack squinted at her.

"More humans?" Artemis looked at him curiously.

"You look somewhat familiar, have I met you before?"

"I think you would have remembered a giant alien robot with six foot long katanas." He pointed out, nodding to the weapons strapped to his back.

"Gee, you think? I meant your colour scheme."

"Well, this isn't exactly my subtle wear." He said, transforming into a sleek white car with red and green accents. Immediately, Artemis' eyes widened in recognition.

"YOU! You nearly got my Team killed, you fragging idiot! Who the hell drives at two hundred and sixteen kilometers an hour on a highway in Canada?" Smokescreen looked at his partner curiously.

"What were you doing in Canada?"

"Building an igloo." She said sarcastically. "What do you think we were doing? We were on a mission! And we're trying to tail these guys who stole a van in the Bio-ship when this dumbass comes speeding along the road nearly hitting us as he weaves through the traffic!"

"What is it about low profile that you two don't understand?" Arcee muttered while Wheeljack laughed, before she noticed her partner's bruised cheek. "Jack! What happened?" She demanded. Jack's face flushed.

"Well, um, I got into fight." He mumbled shamefully.

"Is that what happened? You said you were attacked by a stray cat!" Bulkhead cried, whirling around at Miko.

"Well it was a cat fight." Artemis whispered to Smokescreen, who chuckled.

"Told ya' she's a Wrecker." Wheeljack said proudly. "So how's the other guy look?" Miko looked down at her boots.

"She kinda won." She mumbled. Wheeljack blinked.

"Oh." He said awkwardly. Artemis rolled her eyes and flipped off of Smokescreen's palm and landed in a crouch on the ground.

"That's because you fight like you're in the movies. You too Jack! When you're fighting someone, you want to keep a low stance. That way it's harder for them to knock you over." She explained, sinking into a basic stance; knees bent, back straight and arms up protecting her face. "You try." She instructed. The Autobots made a semi-circle around the pair and watched interestedly. Miko tried to mimic the stance, raising her fists just slightly too high. Artemis fixed them and then looked over at Jack and Raf. "You guys want to try too?" Raf shook his head and held up his hands from atop Bumblebee's shoulder.

"I'm fine." Jack grumbled. Artemis raised a brow.

"This coming from the guy who nearly broke his fist when he tried to throw a punch." He sighed heavily and walked over and tried to copy Miko, who hadn't moved and had a look of determination on her face. "Alright, thumbs outside your fist. Good. Now bend your knees a bit more. Okay, and push one foot in front of the other. Preferably your more dominant one." She continued to adjust their stances until she was satisfied. "Cool. Now try to throw a punch." Artemis demonstrated the proper way to hit someone and where you should aim and then told them to try. She held up her hands, one near her throat and the other near her stomach. Miko went first and gave two semi-decent punches to each hand.

"Okay, not bad, but try to hit me with your entire fist, not just the first two knuckles. I feel like I'm being attacked by a mutant chipmunk." She tried again and did far better. Jack tried next, and his first attempt was quite good.

"Nice. You sure you don't want to try a bit Raf?" Artemis called. Bumblebee chirped something that sounded vaguely encouraging. Raf looked like he was going to regret it, but he nodded and hopped off of Bumblebee. Artemis instructed him on how to take a proper stance and held up her hands. Raf was somewhere in between Miko's first attempt and her second, but was surprisingly, not too bad. She had to change how he was making a fist and how he was aiming, but the stance was easy for him.

"Cool! Can you show us how to do a Chuck Norris kick?" Miko asked eagerly as she practised her punches. Artemis looked over at the Autobots and shrugged.

"Uh, who's Chuck Norris?" Wheeljack asked at the same time as Bulkhead, both with confused looks on their faces. Smokescreen shrugged with a look of confusion on his face.

"He's this really hairy martial artist who kicks a lot of ass." Miko said waving a hand dismissively. "So will you teach me?"

"First off, it's called a roundhouse kick, not a 'Chuck Norris' kick." Artemis said, adding in air quotes.

"I don't think it's such a good idea, teaching Miko how to kick someone in the head." Arcee pointed out. Miko rolled her eyes, and threw her hands into the air.

"How else am I supposed to defend myself against M.E.C.H. and the Cons?" She asked with an unsaid 'Duh!' in her tone. Bulkhead looked at her tentatively.

"I don't know Miko…"

"Aw, let her have some fun! I'm sure Arty can handle it!" Wheeljack said cheerfully. Artemis gave him a dirty look, still not forgiving him for nearly running her off the road.

"Fine. Hey Hotshot, do you think there's anything we could use as a training dummy here?" Smokescreen looked around and then at the other Autobots.

"In your size? I don't think so…"

"Because it'll be easier to show them if I had a dummy or something to demonstrate on. I have one at home I could go get, but I don't think it'll fit in your trunk."

"I'll take her."

"No!" Two voices exclaimed at once. Both Arcee and Smokescreen exchanged an embarrassed glance. Wheeljack looked slightly hurt.

"What? Why not? I promise I'll keep a low profile."

"Need I remind you what happened the last time you took a human out for a joyride?" Arcee hissed. The Wrecker looked guilty.

"It's not like I wanted Miko to have to kill Hardshell." He mumbled. Artemis raised an eyebrow and looked over at the Japanese girl.

"You've killed a 'Con?" She asked, slightly impressed.

"Insecticon, actually." She muttered looking angry.

"But it's not like I'll be taking her on a quest for vengeance! We're playing delivery Bots!" Wheeljack protested.

"Is anyone going to ask me what I think about this?" Artemis asked grumpily, tapping her foot.

"No. I'm bigger than you, so you'll do as I stay and never see the light of day again." Smokescreen said, dead serious. Artemis rolled her eyes and kicked his foot. "Hey, Luthor is still looking for you!"

"And I can deal with him. Besides, it's not like I'll be wandering around by myself!"

"Don't get you protoform in a twist rookie! I'll keep an eye on her!" Smokescreen glared at him. Arcee massaged her temples.

"Fine. But drive the speed limit!" Wheeljack smiled and transformed, opening his driver side door. Artemis patted Smokescreen's foot in a silent reassurance, and hopped in.

"So how's life with the Bots treating you?" Wheeljack asked conversationally, once they were out of the base.

"It's… better than sitting around my house by myself at night." She shrugged. She really couldn't describe the late nights telling ghost stories with the other humans, target practise with Smokescreen on Sundays, teaching the Bot's about pop culture, playing video games against the Autobots, and having competitions to see who could make Ratchet laugh first, all in one sentence. It was like trying to describe someone on the Team in only one word; nothing would do it justice. Luckily, Wheeljack seemed to understand what she meant.

"So who's this Luthor guy who's still looking for you?"

"A jerk."

"A jerk?" Wheeljack asked, prompting her to continue.

"A rich jerk with really big weapons." She added. "A rich jerk with really big weapons who wants me to break a convict out of jail and protect him while he fiddles around with some tech, that I think is coming from Cybertron, and then bring whatever Ivo makes back to him."

"Huh. Good to know I guess."

"My turn for a question." She said, leaning forward towards the wheel. "Raf said you were like a mad scientist. So do you think you could develop an explosive that could harm a Decepticon that fits inside one of my arrows? As repentance for nearly killing me and my team?" Wheeljack's engine purred while he thought.

"That depends. How big are your arrows?" Artemis leaned down and pulled an arrow out of one of her boots. "You fight with that thing? It's like a pin!" Wheeljack laughed.

"Great things come in small packages." Artemis muttered.

"I'll try it out when we get back to the Base." He chirped with an excited note in his voice. The archer smirked and hid her arrow.

"If you're as good as they say." They pulled up to her house and Artemis snuck in through the back. It had become rather routine since she rarely used the front door anymore. Heading quietly to her room, and avoiding the living room where her mother was sitting, the blonde twisted her key into her closet door and descended into her Goddess Cave. The training dummy sat next to her punching bags. It had several puncture marks in it, as well as some rips and tears, but it was lightweight and good for practise. Getting out of the Cave was simple, sneaking past her mother, was far more difficult. The dummy wouldn't fit out the window she climbed in, which meant she had to go out the front door. In other words, she had to haul the unsubtle dummy past the living room and her mother. Channelling her inner Superboy, she hoisted the dummy onto her back, and channelling her inner Robin, she crept past the living room, praying the floor wouldn't squeak as she past. Eventually, after a few painstakingly skillful moments, she managed to get her objection out the door without her mother finding her. Artemis brought her prize over to Wheeljack and stuffed it in his back seat.

"Got it?"

"No, that's my boyfriend Conner. The real dummy is the one driving the car." She said with a roll of her eyes.

"You know, I think I like you." Wheeljack commented before driving back to base.

* * *

After promising Smokescreen she hadn't seen any suspicious activity, giving Wheeljack one of her arrows and setting up her training dummy, she brought the other three humans forward. Arcee had opted to stay and supervise while Bulkhead and Bumblebee followed Wheeljack back to the lab so they could watch him get himself blown up.

"Alright. Now when you use a round house kick, you need some momentum." Artemis began. "Typically, you'll be aiming for the head." She demonstrated a kick in slow motion and explained the basics. Arcee would make an occasional comment or suggestion, and eventually, both Miko and Jack were able to kick the dummy that Artemis had decided to affectionately call Godfrey in the face, and Raf was able to hit his waist. It had gone fairly well, so she taught them a simple disarming technique and some blocks. At one point Artemis started humming 'I'll Make a Man Out of You" so the others of course started singing at the top of their lungs. Arcee raised an optic at them, but didn't say anything. Ratchet, on the other hand, stormed in and started cussing at them in Cybertronian for waking him from his stasis nap. After he had calmed down, he started fiddling around with the groundbridge as the teenagers started punching and kicking Godfrey the Dummy again. After an hour or two, they decided they were done for the day.

"I am so going to kick Keisha's butt tomorrow!" Miko said with a fist pump.

"Oh no you're not! Artemis didn't show you those moves to use against someone. The first rule of any type of combat is to never use your abilities for violence." Arcee admonished.

"Aw." Miko groaned with a little pout. Artemis looked around the silo.

"Has anyone seen Hotshot around?" She asked.

"He was in the lab with Wheeljack and the others." Ratchet said gruffly from the groundbridge.

"I haven't heard an explosion, so I assume they're still online…" Arcee murmured, more to herself than anything.

"I'm going to double check." Artemis said, a tad worriedly. She jogged through the base until she got to the make shift lab in the back end of the silo. She poked her head into the room and saw a complete disaster area. Every surface was covered with some type of electrical equipment and broken pieces of something lay strewn around the workshop. A faint clicking sound was coming from something that looked like a doomsday device, (One that was disturbingly similar to one she had seen in Red Volcanoes' lair) in the far corner. Though slightly worried about the sinister looking machine, Artemis continued to scan the room until she spotted four large robotic forms huddled over a table.

"Fragging tiny piece of scrap! Why does this thing have to be so small?" Wheeljack cursed. Artemis silently walked over to them as Bumblebee chirped. "I know that humans need smaller weapons Bee." Wheeljack sighed. All four robots were blocking the table from each side, leaving Artemis blind as to what they were doing. "There. I think the slagging thing is done." Wheeljack said with a hint of pride in his voice. There was a clattering of metallic objects then silence.

"Shouldn't we test them before jumping to that conclusion?" Smokescreen asked.

"How exactly would you like to do that?" Bulkhead asked. "I don't know about you, but none of us have small enough servos to use it."

"Aw that sucks. Too bad you don't have any humans around to test it out." Artemis said sarcastically, startling the Autobots.

"Artemis! How long have you been standing there?" Smokescreen asked, as he offered her his hand. She climbed onto and he placed her on the table.

"About five minutes." She shrugged. "So what needs small hands in order to test?" She asked scanning the table quickly. The original arrow that she had given him was lying, seemingly untouched on the side, and several miscellaneous parts were placed randomly around the table. An excited glint came into Wheeljack's optic as he opened his palm. There were twenty or so arrows that were of a similar size and shape to her original one, only these were Energon blue instead of forest green.

"Feast your pretty grey optics on these bad boys."

"Cool." She breathed, picking one up and testing the weight in her hand. It was a little heavier than her normal arrows, but it was around the same weight as some of her trick arrows. She turned to Smokescreen. "Bow?" He smiled and pulled it out of his armor. "Do you have a target? Or should I grab Godfrey?"

They went into the training room and set up a metal dummy that was more or less the same density of Cybertronian armor. Artemis stood about twenty feet away and line up her shot. Arcee, the kids, and Ratchet had come in to watch the test. Smokescreen stood pensively to the side, looking a bit worried. Taking a deep breath, the blonde released her arrow and it went sailing towards her target. It connected with the center of the metal, and exploded in a bright blue light. When the dust cleared, the metal had a large gaping hole where the arrow hit it. Artemis whistled lowly.

"Now that. Was impressive." She said, looking over at a smirking Wheeljack. "These are awesome! Thank you!" She said sincerely.

"No problem. Once I figured out how to get the proper amount of pyrotechnics into such a small object, it was sparkling's play." He gloated. Bulkhead gave him a triumphant high-five. The others congratulated Wheeljack and slowly started to trickle out of the training area. Everyone wandered off to do their own thing until it was only Bulkhead, Miko, Artemis, Smokescreen and Wheeljack left. Artemis pulled another arrow from her quiver and examined it.

"So how many do I get?" She asked curiously.

"As many as you can make. They're not that difficult to make once you know the formula." Artemis' eyes lit up.

"Asterous." She grinned, somewhat evilly, and turned to Smokescreen. "So you want to go blow something up?" He returned the grin, transformed and revved his engine.

"Come on! Let's go find us some bad guys!"

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**I know these last two chapters have been a lit action lacking, but rest assured the next chapter will be heavy on the fighting and action! I hope you have enjoyed the newest chapter! See you guys soon! :D**


	14. The Mysterious Beeping Noise

**Thank you so much for all the awesome and heartwarming reviews! I sincerely hope you like this next chapter! I'll have the next one up either Wednesday or Thursday! Enjoy!**

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Since they didn't find any criminal worth using her new arrows on, Artemis and Smokescreen decided to use their usual canyon to christen the new weapons. The rest of Wheeljack's visit was spent telling stories and having a race across the desert. It was quite enjoyable for everyone involved, even Ratchet and Optimus enjoyed hearing the fantastic tales from the war. Smokescreen loved hearing the stories about the Wreckers, and Wheeljack was impressed with Smokescreen's accomplishments thus far. While Artemis was happy that Smokescreen was receiving praise, it did give him a bit of an inflated processor.

After showing Artemis how to make her new Anti-Decepticon Arrows, and promising Miko to return soon, Wheeljack left the base, and everyone went off to do their own thing. Artemis continued to show the others some basic defence moves, and Optimus continued to decode the co-ordinates for the Omega Keys. As the excitement began to die down in the base, everyone noticed Smokescreen's boasting had become unbearable. Artemis, who had spent so much time with Wally 'The Fastest Boy Alive' West and Dick 'The Son of Batman' Grayson, that she was more or less used to excessive bragging.

"You should have seen me Art! I was on fire that day!" He told her one afternoon.

"Strange that you didn't rescue me with burn mark all over then." She said innocently, flipping through a sports magazine.

"Figuratively speaking. Seriously though, I think this might be my destiny!"

"To what, speak figuratively?"

"No! To be a great warrior." He exclaimed happily. Artemis glanced up from her magazine.

"If I've learned anything in my travels, it's that nothing, and I do mean nothing, is set in stone, especially your future. Don't count your chickens before they hatch." She warned.

"…What are chickens?"

The Autobots on the other hand did not have this prior experience.

"All I'm saying is, things happen for a reason."

"We get it Smokescreen, you're special and we're lucky to have you." Arcee said dryly before Optimus announced he had decoded another Key's location.

"Last one to the Key has to clean the Energon tanks for a week!" Smokescreen announced happily. Artemis set down her magazine and poked her head over the top of the couch in curiosity.

"Arcee, Bumblebee, prepare to roll out." Optimus commanded. Smokescreen look extremely put out.

"What about me?" He whined. Bulkhead harrumphed at him and folded his arms. "Err, me and Bulk that is." He said sheepishly.

"The two of you will remain here, in the case I am able to decode a subsequent data base before the others return." The Prime told them.

"Optimus is right." Ratchet agreed. "Considering the entire fate of Cybertron is a stake, response time is critical." He pulled the lever for the Groundbridge, and Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"Remind me again what these Keys are." She asked, though no one answered.

"Keep your engines idling kid. Come on Bee. Destiny awaits." Arcee said with a mocking flourish as she and Bee transformed and drove through the bridge. Smokescreen watched them go longingly.

"We call it a pit stop." Bulk said cheerfully, nearly knocking the rookie off his feet by patting him on the back. "We'll get back in the race."

"But the race for what! Why are those Keys so important?" Artemis demanded, finally gaining some attention.

"The Omega Keys are going to be what regenerates our planet." Ratchet told her. "If we can obtain all four Keys and get them to Cybertron, we will be able to heal our planet and return to it." Artemis took a brief moment to process the information.

"So, if you get those Keys, does that mean you'll leave Earth permanently?" She asked, a slightly worried note in her tone. Smokescreen looked at her and then the others.

"Well, yeah, I guess." He said, not knowing what to tell her. To be honest, he didn't really think he wanted to leave her behind.

"Oh. Okay." She mumbled, slowly picking up her magazine.

"Even if we do leave, you could always… text us." Ratchet tried. He may not have made a special connection with a human here, but it still tugged at his Spark strings to see both Smokescreen and Artemis looking so upset.

"Yeah, there's always that." She smiled. It wasn't a big smile, but it was something. Smokescreen wandered over to her, and the pair started up a video game. While trying to fend off Artemis' Street Fighter, the rookie started telling them again about his destiny to become a great warrior on par with Optimus. About a half hour after Ratchet had sent Arcee and Bumblebee on their way, they called for pick-up. The Groundbridge came alive with green light and two figures hobbled in. Artemis paused the game and looked over. Her eyes widened a fraction in worry as she took in the damage the Bots had appeared to have sustained. Bumblebee had a cracked chest plate, which looked about as painful as breaking ribs. Arcee didn't seem to have any injuries, but the way she was walking was not her usual confident stride.

Ratchet closed the Groundbridge behind them, and rushed to Bumblebee's side. Artemis slid off the couch and slowly walked towards them.

"Are you guys alright? What happened?" She asked, standing in front of Arcee.

"Knockout. He ambushed us with a sonic resonance blaster." She explained bitterly. Ratchet helped Bumblebee into some sort of machine that Artemis was unfamiliar with, and Arcee slumped into a nearby chair. "I'm sorry Optimus. It appears the Cons have improved their decoding skills."

"And it appears that now no one currently possesses the means to revive Cybertron." Ratchet pointed out gloomily.

"Obtaining the remaining two Keys still seems the most prudent course of action." Optimus murmured. Smokescreen, looked strangely excited.

"Man, it must have been crazy with Knockout going all sonic!" He said wistfully. Artemis raised an eyebrow at him, worried for where this was going. "I wish I was there! I would have-"

"Would have what? Recovered the Key like you did the first time?" Arcee snapped as Smokescreen punched at the air. Ratchet had started to examine the femme and Artemis was curiously peering upwards at them.

"I don't know? Maybe? I just want us to be firing on all cylinders." The blonde archer touched her forehead exasperatedly. She could tell where this was going. She swiped her hand back and forth in front of her throat, trying to get her guardian to shut up. But just like Wally, when his motor mouth was going, Smokescreen also ignored her warning. "You know, now that the Star Saber's gone. And I have a pretty good track record." He grinned cockily, even jutting out his hip and resting a servo on it. Artemis groaned as Arcee's optic's lit up in anger. The blue and pink Autobot made a furious noise in the back of her throat and slowly stood up. Parts creaked and she rose and she glared at the rookie as she limped back to her quarters. Artemis shook her head.

"What'd I say?" Smokescreen asked confusedly.

"Look Kid, Arcee and Bumblebee aren't slouches, and Optimus managed fine without the Saber for eons." Bulkhead began.

"I doubt he would be hailed as a great warrior if he had to depend on a single weapon in a fight." Artemis added.

"Of course, you wouldn't know that. You've been locked in stasis all this time."

"I know, I want to make up for lost time!" Smokescreen insisted.

"When Optimus says you're ready! You've got to be in this for the long haul. Slow and steady wins the race." Smokescreen groaned and his companion strode over to him.

"Relax. You'll get your chance to be the big star." She said as he lowered his hand for her to hop onto. "I had to wait fifteen years before I got my chance."

"Didn't you hear? I've been locked in a stasis pod for eons! I think I've waited long enough!" He grumbled, taking them back to their game.

"Maybe destiny wants you to wait a little while longer." The blonde shrugged, picking up the controller and resuming the game.

"Whatever happened to nothing's set in stone…" Smokescreen griped.

"I have decoded the next set of coordinates." Optimus announced. Ratchet opened the bridge and Smokescreen started eagerly punching the air again.

"I am so going to get that relic!" He proclaimed, before catching Arcee's optic and calming down. Smokescreen walked up to the glowing green portal, drew his blasters and waited.

"Bulk, you forget something?" Arcee called, pulling his attention away from the bridge. Artemis, who had been mulling around their feet dressed in her normal combat gear, saw her chance and snuck over to Smokescreen.

"Quick, hide me in your chest plate!" She whisper yelled.

"What? No! It's too risky! What if M.E.C.H or Luthor finds you?" He responded at the same volume.

"I'll be with two alien robots who have giant blasters, and this time, I'll have a quiver filled with high grade explosive arrows. I think I'll be in more danger of catching a cold, then Bishop and Luthor catching me. Besides, we haven' been able to field test said high grade explosive arrows!" She pointed out. Unable to come up with a viable argument, and wanting to see the new arrows in action, Smokescreen sighed and swept her into his chest cavity quickly.

"Fine. But you have to promise to be careful!" He muttered into his chest while pretending to stretch. Bulkhead walked up to him, and the pair disappeared through the portal.

They emerged on the other side, blasters drawn and carefully surveying the region. It was a beautiful wooded area elegantly displaying the colours of fall. The portal dissipated and Artemis kicked at the doors concealing her from Bulkhead. The larger green Autobot shot Smokescreen an annoyed look.

"Please tell me you didn't sneak Artemis along."

"I didn't sneak Artemis along." Smokescreen said as he opened the compartment shielding his partner. The blonde smile and jumped down. She gave him a friendly wave and loaded her bow. Bulkhead sighed in irritation. "What? You said not to tell you."

"Stay close and stay alert. If you see a Con, call for back-up." He insisted.

"Gotcha!" They said at the same time as they wandered deeper into the forest.

"I mean it."

"Us too." Artemis called innocently. She moved silently among the trees and her Autobot counterparts make only slightly more noise. The archer was tempted to sigh in contentment. It had been so long since she had been on a real mission with a real team. She missed her old Team greatly at that moment, but she pushed the longing thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on the task at hand. Suddenly, there was a beeping noise, and all three heroes whipped their heads around. "What was that?" She demanded in a low voice. The trees shook as a large blue and gold robot emerged from the bushes.

"One of the last sounds you will ever hear." He smirked. Artemis pulled up her bow and aimed for his right optic.

"Dreadwing." Bulkhead growled. The beeping noise sounded again as the Decepticon transformed into a fighter jet and flew towards the trio. Artemis kept her weapon trained on him as the Bots dropped to the ground. As Artemis turned, she noticed where the beeping was coming from.

"Oh hell." She muttered as Bulkhead stood up and also discovered the source of the mysterious beeping noise.

"We've got to move!" Bulkhead shouted, snatching up Artemis and Smokescreen and sprinting away from the multiple bombs around them. One by one, the explosives went off, deafening the archer slightly. As the heroes ran, the forest started coming down around their heads. Smokescreen cursed as he ran, continuously glancing over at the former Wrecker to make sure Artemis was still securely in his servo. It was due to these constant side glances that the Autobot didn't notice they were fast approaching a cliff. As the final bombs lit up the sky, both robot went tumbling over the side. The landed at the bottom on their fronts, and the blonde went sailing from Bulkhead's servo once he hit the ground. She rolled and stood up, her newest type of arrow still notched in the bow.

"Well that was fun." She hissed as Dreadwing landed with a thud in front of them. The Decepticon sneered at them as Artemis took a few steps towards Smokescreen.

"How pitiful that the Autobots have fallen so far as to need assistance from the human pests." He said condescendingly. He pulled out his blasters and aimed them at the two bigger threats. Artemis smirked at him cockily and let her newest type of arrow fly. It met its target and exploded with enough force to send Dreadwing stumbling backwards.

"Maybe you should considering getting a human of your own." She smirked. Smokescreen turned to where Dreadwing was blown away from and moved to engage.

"Smoke. Take Arty and find the relic! I'll distract Dreadwing." Bulkhead ordered, tossing him the tracker.

"You got it!"

"But I can help!" Artemis protested as Smokescreen picked her up and ran. Dreadwing made to follow them, but the heroine lined another high explosive arrow up and shot it towards him. This time, he was smart enough to move out of its way, though Bulkhead used the distraction wisely and took over. Meanwhile, Smokescreen and Artemis followed the signal to a pile of rocks.

"Better get digging huh?" He asked, gently dropping her to the ground and sinking to his own knees. They moved the heavy stone out of the way until they could see the top of an ornate looking pot.

"That's what's holding the key to reviving Cybertron? A pot? That's it? I was expecting something far cooler." Artemis complained. Smokescreen removed the stones trapping it, accidently blocking Artemis from his view. "Hey!" She cried, trying to get a good look at it as Smokescreen took off the lid, revealing an ancient looking key.

"Destiny." He murmured, completely ignoring Artemis' comments. All of a sudden, there was a rush of wind, and Smokescreen was knocked out cold.

"Hotshot?" Heavy footsteps fell as the blonde ran around the heavy rocks. "Whoever you are, don't move!" She insisted, looking up at the sinister looking robot with feet that reminded Artemis of a pair of heels that Jade used to wear. He looked down at her as she aimed one of her new arrows at him. The red accented robot gave a deep, low laugh that was similar to the one that the cornier super villains had, though it was still slightly terrifying.

"Do you really thing your little toys can stop me, vermin?" He goaded. Artemis narrowed her eyes at him and fired, aiming for his right optic. The blast threw her backwards, dropping her a few feet behind her Autobot protector. The Cybertronian cried out in pain, and disappeared with a rush of air. The archer groaned as she picked herself up off the rock she had landed on and she trudged over to Smokescreen just as Bulkhead arrived.

"Artemis! Are you alright?" He asked concernedly.

"Fine. What about Hotshot?" She asked, looking him over.

"Smokescreen! Wake up!" Bulkhead yelled, making Artemis wince slightly. Her head was starting to pound a little.

"Urgh. What happened?" He groaned as Bulkhead offered him a hand up.

"That's what I want to know." They both looked at Artemis.

"The Omega Key!" Smokescreen cried suddenly. "I had it! Until something hit me from behind."

"Super speedy Con, I think. Found of battle stilettoes."

"Dreadwing must have had back-up." Bulkhead sighed. "Ratchet. We need a Groundbridge."

"I-I told Optimus I'd return with that key." Smokescreen stuttered.

"Sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to. The important thing is learn and move on." Artemis tried, as the portal opened up in front of them.

"Besides, we need all four keys! As long as we hold on to the one we have now, we can always find a way to get them back from Megatron!" Bulkhead added, as they filed through the bridge.

"He was sucker punched. It could have happened to anyone!" Bulkhead explained back at the base to an irate Arcee.

"But it didn't. I was the one who lost the key. Some great warrior I'm turning out to be." Artemis sighed and rolled her eyes as she replenished her stock of arrows, having already received the 'you shouldn't be going on missions' lecture.

"You still don't get it do you?" Arcee asked. "A couple of victories aren't going to make you a legend." She told him harshly.

"Besides, not every mission will end in a success. Do you know how many times my team and I have royally screwed up? Pit, the freaking Justice League gets beaten once in a while!" Artemis pointed out, leaning on Smokescreen's leg.

"We've gained relics and we've lost some. We've also lost friends. We've even lost a world! But we're getting a second chance. Everyone in this room needs to be in sync. This isn't about you, or your destiny!" Artemis grimaced at the pained expression her guardian was wearing and shot Arcee an annoyed look. The blue Autobot was almost worse than Batman about giving out the 'reasons you suck speeches.'

"You have made your point." Optimus said in his deep comforting baritone. Artemis nodded in agreement, and tried to give the rookie's leg a comforting pat, though she doubted he felt it.

"Optimus, he needs to hear this!" Arcee turned back to Smokescreen. "You may become a great warrior one day, and I sincerely hope that you do. But you need to be a team player first!"

"There's nothing I wouldn't do for this team!" Smokescreen growled.

"Then stop trying to be a hero and start being an Autobot."

"Oh, back off will you? So what if he made a mistake?" Artemis hissed. She put on her most fearsome Bat-glare and aimed at Arcee.

"His mistake may have cost us the chance to revive our home!" Arcee snapped, not fazed at all by the human's glare. Smokescreen glared at the ground before speaking.

"You know, maybe I'm just not good enough." And with that, he turned around, took a small jump, knocking Artemis away from him, transformed and went speeding out of the silo.

"Hotshot! Wait!" Artemis yelled, immediately sprinting after him. She knew she would never be able to catch up with him, so she whipped out her cell and phoned him.

"I don't feel like talking." He barked when he picked up. Artemis rolled her eyes and kept running.

"Then don't talk and come pick me up outside the base before someone comes and kidnaps me." She heard him mutter some curses directed at her manipulation, but he came for her just the same. She got in quickly, and they drove in silence while Artemis wished someone had taught her how to comfort a friend in need.

LexCorp was a reputable and trusted company, despite its many criminal connections. As such, it was ridiculously easy for its owner and CEO to get into contact with the President and set up a meeting. Having a charismatic and sneaky CEO meant that once the meeting was set-up, meant there was little that Lex Luthor couldn't achieve.

"Lex! How are you?"

"Fine, thank-you Mr. President. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice." Luthor smiled, offering the leader of the United States a drink.

"No trouble at all, at least not for you! So, what I can do for you?"

"I would like to request a meeting with one of your special agents. A special Agent William Fowler, to be exact." He said with a charming smile.

The desert flew by quickly, while Artemis tried to think of something helpful to say. Nothing was coming to her, so she had texted Robin, M'gann, Zatanna and Kaldur asking for advice, though none had answered her yet. As they passed another cactus, she took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by laser fire. Instead of saying, 'Arcee was wrong you know,' a completely different phrase came out of the blonde's mouth.

"Holy scrap!" She shrieked. Smokescreen transformed and gently tossed Artemis to the side, just like he had earlier that morning.

"You picked the wrong day to mess with me Decepticon." He snarled. He pulled out his blasters, but before he could get out even one shot, several purple circles of energy slammed into and sent him sprawling into the dirt.

"SMOKESCREEN!" Artemis screamed, reaching behind her only to feel awkwardly naked once again. A Decepticon who didn't have any facial features, only a strange blank slate walked slowly over the fallen Autobot. At the same time, the archer ran full tilt towards him. Despite his slower speed, the Con still reached Smokescreen before she did, and the villain grabbed him by the ankles. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Artemis screeched, picking up some rocks and hurling them at the faceless Con. He paid them no mind however, and simply dragged her partner towards a Groundbridge. Another Groundbridge opened, and the Autobots raced out of it, running towards the kidnapper.

"Smokescreen! No!" Optimus yelled, reaching the other bridge just as it shut. Artemis' eyes widened in shock as she realized that her newest best friend was gone.

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**Hope you enjoyed! :D Please tell me what you thought! :D Have an awesome weekend everybody! **


	15. Breaking Jars

**And here it is! I hope you all enjoy! Thank you all so much for the awesome reviews! I think you are all really wonderful people! :D If you find any weird spelling or grammar, please let me know and I'll fix it ASAP! It's like midnight and I'm far too tired to look over it! Enjoy! :D**

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Artemis snarled furiously at Folwer the Training Dummy as she waited for Ratchet to find her guardian. It had been slow going, and the pent up frustration and rage had finally made the archer blow her top. After screaming some very vulgar curses in not only English, but French, Spanish, Vietnamese and even the odd Cybertronian slur at nothing in particular, Optimus had told her to go blow off some steam with the dummy. She had brought the dummy back into the main hangar in order to still know what was going on as well as release her anger.

"Smokescreen was most likely taken to the Decepticon War ship. Tracing his signal through its shielding will be impossible." At Ratchet's words, Artemis pounded her fists more vigorously into the face, throat and chest of the dummy. She had already tried finding her partner using the tracking device she had slipped under his drivers' side seat, but the signal was also blocked. The Autobots started discussing the reason for Smokescreen's capture making Artemis even crosser then she already was. Once Ratchet pointed out the fact that the Cons had already decoded the clue Artemis lost it completely and violently shoved Fowler the Training Dummy to the Floor.

"So that's it? We're going to 'monitor all frequencies?'" She snapped crossly. The far larger beings looked down at her.

"At this time, there is little else we can do for him." Optimus explained calmly. The blonde's eyes widened in a furious disbelief.

"Are you kidding me? We could be out there searching! We could be hacking into human radar or something!" She protested.

"We can't risk exposure by tapping into any human resources. Besides, human technology is far too primitive to be able to pick up on a Cybertronian signal." Ratchet said shaking his head condescendingly. Artemis glared murderously at them.

"Fine. If you're not going to do anything to help him, I will." She snarled, before running up the steps to grab her bow and quiver. She gave each of the Bots one more scathing look before she stalked towards the exit.

"Come on kid, I'll give you a ride home." Bulkhead offered taking a step towards her.

"No. Thanks." She spat, her ponytail disappearing around the corner. Arcee called out to her, but she was far too livid to listen. She stomped all the way out of the silo. When she got out into the sunlight, she broke into a light jog and went around to the back of the large rock formation before she reached into the pocket of her combat suit, (Which she had yet to remove) and pulled out her seldom used comm. Link and put it in her ear. "Time to call in the Calvary… Artemis to the Bat Cave. Robin, come in." She waited a moment before Wally voice answered her.

"Babe? You okay?" Wally's asked concernedly. She wasn't sure what he was doing answering the Bat Cave communications, but his voice did make her feels slightly better.

"Artemis? Are you okay?" Robin demanded to know.

"I'm fine. But I need a favor."

* * *

It only took ten minutes for Wally to run from the Las Vegas Zeta Beam to Artemis' position, pick her up and rocket them back to the Zeta Beam. Once there, the couple teleported back to the Bat Cave where Robin was waiting apprehensively.

"So what's the sitch?" Robin asked. Artemis got straight to the point.

"My alien friend has been kidnapped by evil aliens from his dead home world and I need your help to get him back." She told them bluntly. The both of them blinked at her once.

"Wait is this the same friend who helped you get away from Luthor?" Wally asked. Having friends that were Kryptonian and Martian were helpful when you needed help involving other aliens. It just made everything far more believable.

"Yeah. And now he needs my help. Which means he needs your help."

"Alright. What do you need us to do?" Artemis thought about it for a moment. She had no idea what Smokescreen's 'signal' was or how to find it. The same thing went for the Decepticon War ship. So a little outside the box thinking was in order.

"Rob, does the Watchtower have any radar devices that can compensate for alien tech?" Robin paused and thought about all the gadgets that were stockpiled in the Justice League HQ.

"No." Artemis mouthed a curse and started thinking again. "But the Bat Cave does." He smirked. Artemis' eyes lit up in hope.

"Perfect. Wally, do you think you could smuggle Sphere out of the Cave without anyone knowing?"

"Without a doubt. You are talking to the fastest boy alive here."

"Perfect."

* * *

The atmosphere was tense at best in the Bat Cave. Artemis was anxiously pacing around as Robin typed at the computer while they waited for Wally to return with Sphere.

"Alright, this tech came from New Genesis, and they have some of the most highly advanced technology we know about. With any luck, this should pick up on the ship's signal no problem."

"I hope your right. Cybertronians' are _made_ of highly advanced tech…" Artemis muttered so that Robin couldn't hear the end of her sentence. It was another five minutes of tense silence before a loud beep echoed throughout the Cave.

"I have something… I'll try to see if I can get a satellite image of it or something." Artemis leaned over the boy's shoulder as he typed away. After clicking the mouse a few times, an image of a large ominous ship came up. "Holy sinister spacecraft! How have we never run into that thing?" He asked, the whites of his mask wide in surprise.

"Never mind that now! Where is it?"

"It's overtop the Rocky Mountains in Canada." Artemis nodded determinedly and pulled her mask up over her face. Wally arrived a few minutes later, gray sphere in tow.

"What took you?" Robin asked with a smirk.

"Hey, you try sneaking the pet of a guy with super hearing out of the Cave!" Wally grumbled, patting Sphere. She chirped happily and rolled around to say hello to Artemis.

"Good to see you too. But I need your help! Do you think you think you could fly me somewhere?" The New Genesis Sphere chirped happily and changed into a bike.

* * *

"How close can we get to the ship?" Wally asked Robin, who was currently piloting Sphere. Wally and Artemis were in the back, watching as they approached Nemesis.

"Without getting spotted? Not sure. The closest I could say for certain is thirty feet or so." Wally looked over at Artemis. She was dressed in her stealth outfit and was tapping her foot impatiently. "Are you certain you can handle this on your own?" He asked. She narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend.

"I'll be fine. And no offence, but this really is more of a stealth mission."

"I can be stealthy!" Wally cried indignantly while Robin scoffed. "I can!"

"Dude we don't call you Leroy Jenkins for nothing. But Artemis, what about me?" The blonde archer shook her head sadly and shouldered her quiver.

"Sorry Rob. But you don't have the weapons to fight these guys. I'll be fine."

"We could always call in the others…" Wally suggested.

"There's no time. Who knows what they're doing to him right now!" She told them fiercely. "Rob, get us as close as you can." Rob nodded silently and flew them above the ship, as close as he dared. Artemis stood up and fastened a repelling line to her belt. "I'll call you when we need a distraction." She promised.

"Good luck 'Mis."

"Please be safe babe." The blonde nodded and jumped from Sphere and gently let herself descend onto the deck of the Decepticon War Ship.

* * *

Getting in to the ship turned out to be easier than Artemis expected. The hatch that led into the base was automated, so no strength was required. The drop from the hatch to the floor of the top level of the ship was a fairly long one, but not nearly as bad as some of the towers she'd been thrown off of. Having her bow ready, and sticking close to the walls, she slunk around the fortress, trying to figure out where Smokescreen would be held. Now that she was within the Nemesis, the tracker she put on Smokescreen was working again. Using the wrist computer that Robin had lent her, she quietly followed the signal, occasionally ducking into a corridor to avoid any foot soldiers that happened to be passing by. It took her nearly twenty minutes to get across the ship into what she presumed was medical wing, but she got there eventually. She climbed into the familiar territory of the air ducts and crawled inside.

"…Remove it swiftly!" A gravelly voice commanded. The archer peered through the grate she was next to and nearly gasped. Smokescreen was strapped down to an operating table while a threatening, almost shark like Decepticon spoke with a red robot with a stark white face.

"With pleasure." The red Decepticon said, in a voice that was far smoother then the silver one. "I do so resent a finish flashier then my own!" He transformed his hands into a buzz saw and starting leaning over her Autobot. Without pause, Artemis whipped out her newest type of arrows and lined up a shot. She aimed and released the arrow on her next breath before she twisted out of sight from the grate. She heard an explosion and the anguished cries of someone in pain.

"KNOCKOUT! What was-?" The scarier of the two asked furiously.

"Something… Something came out of that grate and…" The Decepticon Artemis assumed was Knockout whimpered. She chanced a look and saw that her arrow had clipped his buzz saw, blowing off half of the teeth. Smokescreen's eyes were wide in surprise. His optics found her and she gave him a nod. The shark like robot suddenly turned his head, making Artemis twist out of view again. Heavy footsteps thundered across the deck and the heroine held her breath in fear.

"Hey Megatron! You don't think you have a Scraplet infestation do you?" Smokescreen called, drawing the infamous Megatron's attention to himself. The footsteps stopped and Artemis ran out of oxygen, forcing her to breathe again. As quietly as she could she folded her bow and clipped it to her side to keep it out of the way.

"Remove the relic now!" Megatron's deep voice commanded. He continued to move towards the grate his cold, red eyes peering in. Artemis scooted as much as she dared away from the panel. She heard something power up.

"Trippy…" There was two thuds that nearly stopped Artemis' heart. "And intuitive. Proper grounding ensures that its user won't phase through the floor." The blonde realized that Knockout must have been using her partner's cherished phase-shifter, something he had proudly shown her the day he was told he got to keep it.

"I said swiftly!" Megatron snarled, turning away from the grate for a second. Smokescreen started grunting and Artemis' fear turned to anger in a second.

"Get your stinking hand out of my gears!" The Autobot demanded.

"And… Gotcha!" Knockout cried victoriously, as Artemis heard the sound of something being pulled from its holder. Smokescreen grunted once more, then fell silent.

"Excellent." Megatron grinned, before ripping off the grate and plunging his servo in the air duct. Artemis gave a squeak of surprise and lashed out at his fingers using her foot. His servo retracted slightly, then shot out again, and wrapped around her torso. Artemis tried slamming her fists into his hand, but it didn't do anything. He dragged her out of the vent and held her in front of his face for inspection. "Well doctor, I think I found our little 'Scraplet' problem."

"Artemis!" Smokescreen yelled, struggling more desperately against his bonds. She gave him a look that told him to calm down.

"You must be the new parasite that Prime has brought in." Knockout purred, eyeing her up and down.

"And you must be the Con who cares way too much about his finish." She scowled. The medic sneered at her.

"Tell me the function of these relics!" Megatron ordered, looking back at Smokescreen.

"Doorstops, shavers, bling? Beats me." He lied. Artemis smirked. She would have laughed, but the Decepticon leader was holding her stomach a little too tight, and it was getting difficult to breath.

"Too bad this little ditty doesn't allow me to simply reach in and pluck the information from his processor." Knockout stated, holding up the Phase-Shifter sitting on his wrist.

"Fortunately, we have a device that can." Megatron smiled viciously. Smokescreen's optics widened in worry. Artemis continued to squirm as the leader passed her to Knockout. "Find a suitable containment unit for this… vermin until she can be dealt with properly. Optimus Prime will give anything to make sure his precious humans are safe. Then prepare a cortical psychic patch." Squeezing her far too tight to be comfortable, Knockout shoved the human into a jar of some sorts, tapped the glass while grinning evilly and walked over to a cabinet filled with supplies.

"Hey! Let her go!" Smokescreen cried, from the table. Knockout ignored him and pulled out some sort of cord from the masses of strange looking technology and brought it over to his master and Smokescreen. He hooked either end to the back of both their heads and waited.

"So what, you linked their minds?" She called out, curious and worried as to what was happening. The red medic strode over to her.

"In laymen's terms, I suppose. So what are you supposed to be anyways?" He goaded, looking her up and down again, taking in her costume. "There a reason your hiding you face?"

"I'm an archer." She replied, ignoring his last question. He chuckled.

"Oh really? And I suppose you thought you could rescue you Autobot pal all by yourself?"

"Pretty much, yeah." She grinned, looking him in the optic. "And from what I've seen, it shouldn't be that tough." Knockout scoffed, and picked up the cage, making her stumble a little.

"As soon as I've finished with your Autobot friend, I'm going to enjoy having you to myself." He leered. Artemis glared defiantly at him.

"And I'm going to enjoy liberating that Phase-Shifter, and kicking you shiny red butt with it." Knockout grinned, set the cage down and went to go check up on the mentally linked robots.

_"-The future of our home world depends on it."_ Came the faint voice of the Prime. Artemis pressed her face against the glass in order to see what was happening.

"That's. A wrap." Knockout said, wrapping his spindly fingers around the end of the cords attached to Smokescreen. He smiled nastily at Artemis and gave the cord a good yank. Smokescreen lurched forwards, his optics opening, before falling back onto the berth, in a trance-like state.

"SMOKESCREEN!" Artemis yelled from her prison banging her fists against the glass. Megatron was also released from the patch and he and Knockout had a brief conversation that Artemis didn't hear. All of her attentions were on Smokescreen who was starting to stir. He started moving a little more and the archer's heart starting beating normally again. She looked around the room and noticed that Megatron had left and Knockout was once again approaching Smokescreen. He vented in annoyance.

"Once more into the brain pan." He grumbled.

"No! Not again!" Smokescreen whimpered. "STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!" Artemis' temper flared hotter than before and she pulled out one of her special glass cutting arrows. Knockout laughed cruelly.

"Now, now, you'll only make things worse for yourself." The evil doctor was about to taunt the rookie some more when the sound of shattering glass filled the room.

"Worse how?" Artemis smirked, standing proudly amongst the crushed glass of what used to be a jar. She had brought her bow back out and aimed another arrow at Knockout. He starred at her open mouthed for a moment before Smokescreen took advantage of his distraction by grabbing onto his Phase-Shifter.

"I'll take that, thank-you!" He said, using it to free himself. The boys started to tussle over control of the relic and Artemis fired the arrow towards Knockout's head. It missed and caught his shoulder, sending him flying backwards, and leaving the Phase-Shifter in Smokescreen's servos. Knockout snarled at them and rushed the Autobot. Smokescreen sidestepped and pushed the Decepticon half way into the medical table.

"Aren't you the clever one?" He growled, struggling to free himself. Smokescreen laughed, clipped on the Phase-Shifter again and went over to Artemis.

"What were you thinking? You could have gotten killed!" He admonished, gently placing her in his servo.

"I was thinking you saved me, so I had to return the favor." She shrugged, rubbing her hand comfortingly on his own.

"Oh how very touching." Said Knockout sarcastically. "But it doesn't change the fact you'll never get off this ship alive."

"Which also doesn't change the fact you still let us escape and trap you in a medical table with your own weapon." Artemis spat acidly.

"You do look ridiculous." Smokescreen pointed out.

"This ship is miles in the sky and swarming with Decepticons. Do you really think you can escape?"

"Whoever said we were looking to escape?" The rookie smirked, turning and jogging from the room while Knockout cursed them. Keeping his human partner close to his body, they ran through the halls, sometimes passing through walls to avoid patrols or to get them to where they were going.

"So if we're not getting out, what are we doing?" Artemis asked, after they had snuck past some guards. She knew her boys were going to get worried soon.

"We have to get the keys back. If the Decepticons manage to revive Cybertron first…"

"Everything you did during the war will be for nothing." Artemis finished. Smokescreen nodded and they continued through the decks, until they finally found Megatron. They quietly tailed him until he led them straight to the vault holding the Keys. "You go high, I'll go low?" Artemis suggested, loading her bow.

"On the count of three. One…" Smokescreen prepared to run. "Two…" Artemis lined up her shot. "THREE!" Artemis released the arrow which collided with Megatron's back. A thick fog spilled out and engulfed the entire area in seconds. Smokescreen phased through him, grabbing the Key with the servo that wasn't holding Artemis and took them into the vault. "Think fast!" Artemis chuckled, and reached out and grabbed the Key as the phased out of the vault. They were running again, this time being far less sneaky then before.

"You've got to be worse than Wally at keeping cover!" Artemis yelled as they ran into a group of foot soldiers. The Shifter was once again put into use as they opened fired. The lasers passed through them harmlessly. "I mean seriously!"

"Hey you want to try being not seen in a ship filled with enemies while carrying an obnoxious human and two very important relics?" He cried as they ran through an Insecticon.

"It's hard to do worse than this!" She complained as they arrived on the outside deck at the same time as Megatron and several armed guards.

"You have nowhere else to run. Hand over the Keys now." He commanded.

"Any bright ideas?" Smokescreen muttered.

"As a matter of fact, Hotshot, I think we just need some help getting traught." She grinned. "On the top deck where I came in." Before the Autobot could give her a weird look, a red bike descended out of a cloud and opened fire of the Decepticons.

"What the?" Smokescreen asked, looking at the bike and its two riders.

"The Calvary has arrived." The blonde said proudly. The two teen heroes continued to fire on the enemy robots, sending them scrambling for cover while Artemis and Smokescreen slowly backed away. Finally, Megatron got a shot off from around a turret and sent the boys flying backwards. "Guys! You need to pull out! Sphere can't take another hit like that! We can handle things from here."

"But Arty we-"

"NOW WALLACE!" With a very reluctant look, Robin steered Sphere away from the danger. "Thanks for your help. I'll give you a call tonight." She promised.

"Pests." Megatron spat.

"I've got a plan. But I need you to trust me." Smokescreen whispered as Megatron once again advanced on them. "You think you can do that?" Artemis took a deep breath. She had been making an effort to start letting herself rely on Smokescreen, and he had yet to prove he was unworthy of her faith.

"Alright, but you'd better not get us killed." She breathed.

"It's a pity you can't fly." Megatron jeered, holding out his servo for the keys.

"Yeah, like I'm going to let that happen." Smokescreen smirked before jumping off the edge of the ship, hold Artemis to his chest in a loose fist. "Smokescreen to base. I could really use a Groundbridge." He said over his comm. There was a whooshing sound behind them and Artemis peeked out of the safety of Smokescreen's fingers. A jet was racing towards them, firing steadily.

"You've got to be kidding me." She muttered, though her small voice was lost in the wind. Smokescreen clipped the relics to his back.

"Hold on tight." He called before increasing their speed. Still feeling the heat of the laser blasts, Artemis slipped a small bomb out of her quiver and let it slip between the Autobots fingers. It took off in the wind and miraculously exploded on contact with the plane. It was one of the Energon bombs Wheeljack had helped her make, so it easily destroyed the pursuing Decepticon.

"I'm going to open a Groundbridge directly below you!" Ratchet's voice crackled over the comm.

"Brace yourself Art. This may hurt a tad."

"Great." She told herself sarcastically. She heard the bridge open and sighed. However, in the next second, the air was knocked out of her as Smokescreen collided with something. He shut his hand tightly around her once again cutting off her oxygen for a few tense moments. His grip slackened and they were falling again.

"I hope proper grounding doesn't apply to actual ground." He grunted, using his thumb and pinky to re-activate the Phase-Shifter. Artemis clenched her eyes shut and prepared to hit the ground. The splatter never happened however, and when she opened her gray eyes again, Smokescreen was looking at her with a big smile on his face.

"Told ya it'd work." He whispered as the explosions of the planes that had joined in chasing them collided with the ground.

"For some reason, I actually never doubted you… I think that may be a bad sign." She smirked back.

"Hey Ratchet? I could still really use that bridge."

* * *

Megatron angrily stomped back into the medical wing and snarled at Knockout.

"Do you mean to tell me, that the reason you're stuck in your own medical table is because of the human?"

"Well… she was a very well-armed human." Knockout muttered, internally cursing both the archer and the Autobot. Megatron scowled at him and left while the medic begged to be released.

"Soundwave. I have a new project for you. I need you to find me Prime's human companions." Soundwave silently nodded, and began his new task.

* * *

**Yay! Tell me what you thought! I really hope you like it! The next chapter may take a week or so, but it'll be here as soon as possible! Until then, have a spectacular week! :D**


	16. Of Gambits and Half Plans

Special Agent William Fowler hated meetings, especially ones that took place at five thirty in the morning. He would much prefer to be out in the field working out the problems, not debating them back and forth while nothing gets done. But when the President orders you meet with the CEO of a company that almost single handedly supplies the army with new weapons and transportation, there's really no choice. It's either go, or enjoy unemployment. But just because he had to show up, didn't mean he had to be civil; especially when he knew exactly what the business man wanted, and who he wanted it from.

"Thank you for meeting me on such short notice Agent Fowler." Luthor's suave voice said, extending his hand for a shake. Fowler's hand touched it quickly before immediately drawing back. Both men were sitting at Luthor's desk on either side in his newly furnished office. Fowler was frowning impatiently and Luthor was smiling docilely.

"Yeah well, it's difficult to refuse the President something." Folwer said grumpily.

"Yes, things are so much easier to accomplish when you have the proper connections, don't you think?" Luthor smiled.

"That I know, sir. Now if you wouldn't mind telling why you had to drag me away from my very time consuming job for this meeting." Fowler asked tartly. Luthor grinned like a cat who had caught the canary and leaned forward.

"I have a request of you to make." He simpered. "My Intel tells me that you are in contact with the daughter of an associate of mine." Fowler shrugged.

"I'm in contact with a lot of people Mr. Luthor. You're going to have to be more specific than that."

"Of course." Luthor snapped his fingers and his assistant brought him a tan folder. "Here you are. This should be more than enough information." Fowler glared at him and picked up the document, opened it and flipped through the pages. As he had expected, the name and picture of the girl in the file was Artemis Crock. What was slightly more worrisome for Fowler was the picture of the blonde sitting comfortably in a white, red, and green sports car, not a care in the world. "So, do you know her?"

"Can't say that I do sir." The government agent lied, handing the file back to the business man. Luthor's smile faded and for the first time that day, he looked coldly at Fowler.

"Agent Fowler, please do not insult my intelligence and waste both of our time. I know for a fact that you are the liaison between the government and the aliens known as 'Cybertronians.' And I know that Miss. Crock is associated with at least one of the aliens. Not to mention, many of my sources have noted that you have been sighted multiple times in the city of Jasper Nevada, where Miss. Crock now lives under League surveillance and protection. So I will reword my question. Do you know where Miss. Crock is right now?" Fowler glared back just as coldly and stood up.

"I'm afraid that Miss. Crock's whereabouts are of no concern of yours. Good day." He had reached the doorknob before Luthor spoke again.

"As a fugitive of the United States of America, and my position as official weapons provider for the US Army, I believe it is."

"Fugitive? What is she accused of?" Fowler demanded.

"About two weeks ago, she infiltrated one of my weapons warehouses and stole a top secret new AI system that was going to be used as a replacement for humans on the battlefield. She's currently has controlled of the most technological advanced system on the planet, and I want it back."

"You're going to frame an innocent girl in order to get what you want?" Fowler asked darkly. Luthor's smile returned, and he grinned pleasantly.

"Innocent? Oh no, Agent Fowler. Miss. Crock is anything but innocent. She's been linked in cases that chill your seasoned bones. But I see no reason as to why she needs her name further dragged through the mud. I will drop all charges if she brings me the technology and makes a formal apology in person." Fowler narrowed his eyes in anger.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Of course you will. Because I think we both know that aliens are a lot harder to hide when the entire country is searching for one of their allies. You have one week Agent Fowler." Fowler glared and left silently. Luthor smiled proudly to himself and poured himself a drink.

* * *

"I really hate science." Artemis muttered as she and the other humans did their homework in the silo. Raf looked up from his own social homework and raised an eyebrow.

"Aren't you getting really good marks though? Like really good?" He questioned. It was true, she was proficient in the sciences before she met the Team, but after spending hours upon hours with a math genius and a science prodigy, she picked up even more skills. The marks weren't her issue with the subject.

"That's not the problem. The problem is I can't see it as just science anymore. Now I end up seeing the different ways you can use the chemicals or formulas to commit crimes or stop certain people." She said nonchalantly. Jack and Raf exchanged a worried glance while Miko looked excited.

"Really? Like what? Could you make a bomb with stuff from Wal-Mart? Ooh, could you make me disappear?" She fired off looking eager.

"Uh, yeah, but I'm not going to tell you how… and no, I can't make you invisible." Artemis said worriedly, shuffling her notes away from the pouting Japanese girl.

"Hey!" The boys laughed and they all went back to their homework while their guardians spoke on the roof with Agent Fowler.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE HAS NO CHOICE BUT TO GO TO HIM?!" Smokescreen yelled, nearly flying at the agent who was standing on a rather large rock next to Optimus. Bulkhead grabbed the rookie and held him back. Bumblebee made a chirping noise.

"Bumblebee is right kid. You need to calm down and let Fowler speak."

"Thank you Bulk. Now as I was saying, Luthor is going to accuse her of thievery and demand her capture. And since the President is under his thumb, there will be nothing that anyone can do to prove her innocence. In fact, if the Justice League tries to protect her, it's likely he'll accuse them of harboring a criminal." Fowler said dejectedly.

"But she hasn't done anything!" Smokescreen cried indignantly. Arcee shook her head.

"It doesn't matter that she's innocent. As long as Luthor says she's guilty of something, she's guilty of something. Even if that something is jaywalking, the entire government will be out on a manhunt."

"Well what are we supposed to do then? We can't just let her walk into the Predacon's lair!| Smokescreen snapped.

"I believe that the only thing we can do is keep Artemis secure inside the base and safe from harm." Optimus sighed, disturbed by the amount of trouble that Luthor was willing to go to in order to hurt one of the humans under his protection; one of the humans he cared for.

"Only one problem with that Prime. Luthor is going to use every piece of tracking technology in his possession to find her."

"So what? Our cloaking systems are way stronger than any Earth tech." Bulkhead shrugged.

"Don't be so sure. Luthor already knows that Artemis lives in Jasper, and he has developed equipment that could theoretically find even you guys."

"Well that's… not good." Arcee muttered.

"So we're just going to give her up?" Smokescreen snarled, still being held back by Bulkhead.

"I'm afraid there is no choice." With that, Smokescreen threw off Bulkhead and gave a cold as ice glare at Optimus and Fowler. Then he turned on his heel and stalked back towards the base.

"Smokescreen!" Optimus called. Smokescreen paused at the elevator. "We will protect her." Smokescreen nodded and disappeared. "Agent Fowler. Is there anything we can do to keep Luthor at bay?"

"Even if we don't bring Artemis to him, he'll drag her name through the mud, not to mention go after her mother. He's outplayed us."

"Not yet he hasn't. He wants her to go apologize right? And help him build some sort of weapon for M.E.C.H base on our technology?" Arcee asked. Fowler nodded.

"That's what he's going for." Bumblebee chirped a few times and punched his fist.

"I think you're on to something there Bee."

* * *

The Autobots and Fowler went back into the base after coming up with something resembling a plan to find the humans, Ratchet and Smokescreen waiting for them.

"There something you want to tell me?" Artemis demanded, looking straight at Fowler.

"Actually there is. You're off probation." Jack, Miko and Raf exchanged a look and Artemis blinked once.

"Wait. What?" Smokescreen looked just as confused.

"We have come up with a solution to our problem." Optimus smiled, standing in the center of the silo and drawing everyone's attention to him.

"Wait, what's our problem? Smoky wasn't too clear on that!" Miko asked, looking up at the titans.

"Luthor's back." Artemis growled, glaring at Fowler as if it was his fault. "He's framing me now?"

"If you don't meet him willingly and help him, yes." Artemis narrowed her eyes and cracked her knuckles. "He wants me, to bring you to some warehouse he owns on the other side of Vegas." Fowler explained.

"You want to try to take her?" Smokescreen shot antagonistically.

"Calm down Smokescreen. We are not going to let anything harm Artemis, or let anyone steal our technology to use it for evil." Optimus told them in his powerful voice.

"So then what are we going to do? We can't keep her locked up in here!" Ratchet pointed out.

"We have a plan."

* * *

"You call this a plan?!" Jack demanded, looking worried. "How are you okay with this?" Artemis shrugged and fixed the utility belt Folwer had brought her and double checked her crossbow and its bolts. She hated to leave behind her bow, but it was too big and difficult to hide. It would only be taken away.

"It's probably one of the more well thought out plans I've ever been a part of."

"Are you kidding me? This is insane!" Raf cried, looking terrified. Artemis knelt down to his height and gave him a confident smile.

"Don't worry Raf. I can handle myself."

"Even without your bow?"

"Hey, I don't need a weapon to kick ass. Besides, I'll have back-up." Raf didn't look any happier.

"And if you can't call for backup?" Jack asked darkly. Artemis grinned.

"I'll do what we always end up doing; improvising."

"I still don't like it." Jack muttered.

"Believe me, most of the time, I go in with no plan, except don't get caught, killed, or spotted. This is a nice change for me."

"Speaking of which, let's go over it again." Fowler suggested. "In about an hour, I'll escort you to Luthor's warehouse with Bulkhead as our means of transport. The other Autobots will follow and meet us near the base in case something goes wrong. Once there, you and I will go and meet with Luthor. I'm going to assume he'll get me to leave so that he can threaten you or force you to do something."

"Right. And after you leave, I'll play along with whatever Luthor wants, and go where he asks me to while you guys follow as best you can. While I'm helping him, I'll get as much blackmail material as I can, and hopefully that'll stop him from coming back. Then I call you guys in for pick-up… Okay so maybe it's about the same as what I'm used to, but it's not that bad."

"This is a big mistake." Raf groaned.

"Have a little faith would ya?" Fowler asked, looking a tad hurt.

"Actually, I agree with the humans. This is a bad idea. Too many things could go wrong!" Smokescreen pointed out. He was standing right next to the elevated platform that the humans had placed the couch and TV on. Artemis walked right up the guardrail to look him in the optics.

"I know it's dangerous, Hotshot. But I have to do this. Otherwise, he won't stop."

"You could stay here until he lost interest! We could protect you!" Smokescreen argued. Artemis shook her head.

"He'd find us. Believe me, we wouldn't last the month." Smokescreen looked very sad, like a hurt puppy at her words. "I'll be fine. I promise." He looked just an unconvinced as the boys, but let it drop.

"You need anything, I'll be right behind you."

"I know you will." She smiled sadly. Fowler coughed conspicuously and called attention to himself. Everyone swiveled their heads to look at him.

"We should get going." Artemis nodded, pulled a grey hoodie on overtop her utility belt and zipped it up to her chin. She gave each of the teenagers a hug, and stood by Bulkhead's enormous foot with Fowler.

"I'll be monitoring your progress from here. Try to stay safe." Raf pleaded. Artemis nodded once seriously.

"Good luck!" Miko chirped.

"Autobots! Transform and roll out!" Optimus commanded. The others transformed while Ratchet stayed upright and opened the Groundbridge. Artemis and Fowler got into Bulkhead and they drove out of the base, closely followed by Bumblebee, Arcee, Smokescreen and Optimus.

* * *

After dropping Bumblebee, Arcee, Smokescreen and Optimus at the agreed waiting place, Fowler, Bulkhead and Artemis drove until they could see the compound housing the warehouse that Luthor was using as a testing lab. Folwer turned to Artemis and Bulkhead parked for a moment.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked concernedly.

"You sound like you care. Don't tell me you're going soft on me Fowler." She smirked. The special agent shook his head good naturedly and pulled out some handcuffs.

"Don't worry about that. Now you're under arrest." Artemis offered him her wrists and he snapped the metal bracelets on loose enough so she could slip out of them, but tight enough so that it looked real. And just in case, an extra key was tucked into one of the pockets on her belt. They pulled up to the security gate and Bulkhead unrolled the window.

"This is a restricted area. What is your business here?" The guard demanded.

"We're out getting groceries. Why else would we drive out to the middle of nowhere?" Artemis snapped.

"I have a meeting with Lex Luthor." Fowler cut across. The guard said something into his radio before opening the gate.

"You'll be meet with a security detail inside to escort you." He informed them. Bulkhead drove in was quickly met by the large security detail, headed by Lex Luthor himself.

"Agent Fowler. I appreciate your promptness." Luthor smiled, flanked by Mercy Graves as usual. Fowler got out of Bulkhead, and opened the door for Artemis to get out. She slid out of the vehicle and glared at the businessman. "Artemis, dear. It's lovely to see you again. How have you been since the last time you blew up my facility?"

"Peachy." Artemis spat. Luthor smiled again.

"Thank you for your assistance, Agent Fowler. You are free to resume you regular duties. Miss. Crock, why don't we speak in my office?" Fowler glared at the militia that ushered Artemis towards Mercy and blocked him from following. Finally, he turned around and got back into Bulkhead, and drove away from the compound.

* * *

Meanwhile, Luthor lead Artemis, who was being shepherded after him by Mercy into a cushy office that looked just like the one from the last warehouse they had been in.

"Yeesh. Deja vu much?" Artemis muttered as she sat down and the bodyguard released her hand cuffs.

"We do seem to be running in circles don't we? However this time, I cut out the middleman. MECH can have their weapon, after I have marketed it to every government I can first." Luthor gloated. Artemis rolled her eyes.

"No wonder Wayne Enterprises is so desperate to agree to a partnership with you."

"Wayne is smarter then he seems. But in any case, aren't you getting tired of running? Wouldn't it be easier to simply agree to my terms and go back to your life? Go back to your team?" Artemis paused pretending to think about it.

"Besides not being harassed by you anymore, and getting to be on the Team again, give me one good reason for helping you. Gotham isn't the best city to live in, even without the super villain infestation; the people there are just plain rude."

"Your father would be forgiven and welcomed back into the fold with open arms." Artemis blinked. That was rather unexpected. But it was definitely a good deal.

"Fine. But I want to deal with this as soon as possible." She said decidedly. "Like today. So I'll need a bow, some arrows and a stealth suit." Luthor looked over at Mercy and nodded. She turned on her heel and left.

"Actually, there's been a change in plans. You see, I have not been idle since your last escape." Mercy returned accompanied by a short man who had red hair that was streaked with grey.

"Ivo? How'd you get out of Bell Reve?" Artemis asked, not sure if his appearance was a good or bad thing.

"You would be surprised what a little persuasion from a rich billionaire will do for a poor convict." Ivo smirked.

"So if you already have Ivo, what do you need me for?" Artemis asked.

"Because while Ivo's safety is no longer in jeopardy, he still does not have the information he needs to create a weapon that will rival any battle suit already created; he is missing your valuable Intel about the Cybertronian technology he is going to be working with." Artemis shrugged indifferently, but inside she was groaning. Why couldn't anything ever just go according to plan?

* * *

Luthor took them into a heavily guarded area of the warehouse that had been converted into a lab. As she looked over the diverse array of tools and chemicals laying about, Artemis mentally noted how excited Wally would be about this place. The majority of parts that were being fiddled with by various technicians appeared to be at least copies Cybertronian tech.

"Where'd you find all this stuff anyhow?"

"M.E.C.H. was kind enough to let us tinker with the pieces they had salvaged or had already obtained from earlier encounters with the Autobots." Ivo explained. Luthor had left them at the door, so now it was just the teenager and the scientist, along with the other technicians and some heavily armed guards.

"So what is it you need me to do?" Artemis asked again, not really sure what was wanted from her. Ivo looked at her as if she was a child no older than five.

"I need you to explain what capabilities your friends have. If you have the information M.E.C.H says you do then I should be able to combine it with the information they have already collected to create genius."

"So you want me to talk to you? That's it?" Ivo rolled his green eyes.

"Yes. And don't leave anything out." A light bulb went off in the archer's mind. She sighed and pulled up a chair and started describing her friends, praying that her plan would work.

* * *

**I am so sorry this took so long! But studying and homework and the school play ate up all my time! And I know this is a bit of a cliff hanger, but the next chapter is half written already, so it should be out way sooner! Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favorited! You guys are so awesome and I love you dearly! Hope you have a spectacular weekend! :D**


	17. I Just Need Some Help Getting Traught

**Hey guys! Look who got another chapter done in a timely fashion? YAY! I feel really proud of myself here! :D It's a but of a cliff hangar, but I would love it if you guys told me what you thought of the chapter! I know that I'm going to continue until at least the beginning of Beast Hunters, but do you guys want me to keep going through out the rest of season three? Let me know, but until then, enjoy!**

* * *

"Where is she?" Smokescreen cried exasperatedly about two hours after Bulkhead and Fowler returned to the meeting place. "Shouldn't she have left to break the guy out of prison by now? We should go in there and make sure she's okay!"

"Easy there Quick Draw," Fowler warned. "Artemis know what she's doing. She probably just got held up trying to keep up an appearance.

"But what if she needs us? Are we just going to sit here?"

"We must trust Artemis to handle things on her own. If we go in prematurely, not only could we place Artemis is grave danger, but we risk unnecessarily exposing ourselves to a new foe. We will wait for the signal." Optimus told them. The meeting place was about a mile give or take from the warehouse. A large group of rocks provided enough cover to conceal the massive robots in their usual form, but still let them see the warehouse. It was too far away for Smokescreen's tastes, but his listened to his commanding officer and tried to sit still. He wasn't having much luck in that department. His leg would jump involuntarily while his finger would twitch and his optics roamed around, drinking in the scenery. Finally, Bee said something.

_Would you cut that out? You're driving me crazy!_

"Sorry Bee. But are you sure we shouldn't go after her or something?" Bee's annoyed expression and angry tone disappeared instantly. The scout shook his head sadly and patted the rookie's arm comfortingly.

_She'll be fine. You just have to trust that she is._

Smokescreen scoffed internally and looked back at the LexCorp warehouse sitting ominously in the background. Trust. The pair of them seemed to be having issues with that little subject. Then again if your family raised to you be a heartless killer and your mentor knocked you out to turn you into a giant suitcase for one of the Keys, you'd have trust issues too. However they were getting better and Prime was right. Just bursting in there could get a lot of people killed, most likely Artemis, which would defeat the purpose of a rescue. So they waited. His fingers still twitched and his optics darted around, but he kept his leg still for the sake of the others. Finally, about four hours after getting into the base, Artemis called in.

"Plan worked. Escape route needed. Lasers firing. Could use some back-up…" Her voice crackled across the radio. In the background, faint yelling could be heard. "Oh and M.E.C.H is here… Just a heads up." Smokescreen was already transformed and had his engine revving by the time Optimus gave the order.

"Autobots, let's roll out." Fowler jumped in Optimus' driver side and they all sped off down the road. "Rafael, can you pinpoint Artemis' location?"

_"You bet. She's near the back of the warehouses in the northeast quarter."_

"Stay on the line Arty, we're almost there!" Smokescreen promised from the front of the pack.

"Don't call me Arty!" The Autobots followed Raf's directions but as they entered the warehouse were immediately assaulted by machine gun fire. Smokescreen growled and transformed, revealing his intimidating true form.

"Get out. Of my way." He snarled, bringing out his guns as the others transformed. Optimus drove around a corner before letting Fowler out and transforming there.

"Stay here Agent Fowler and we shall clear a path." Fowler didn't look the happiest with Prime's order, but did as he was told. There were sounds of gun fire being suddenly cut off and a few strangled screams, and Optimus soon returned.

"Show offs." Fowler mumbled, running behind the Autobots as they made their way to the back of the warehouse.

* * *

Meanwhile, Artemis was tucked behind a corner, praying that Ivo wouldn't hear or see her. She was beginning to regret her decision to escape merely seconds after telling Ivo about her friends. As soon as she had finished explaining to him what the Autobots were capable of, she had pushed the table over onto Ivo, taken some smoke bombs out of her utility belt, thrown to the ground with flair and booked it out of the laboratory. The alarm had sounded the second she got outside, and every guard in the entire warehouse came sprinting after her. Some of them were LexCorp goons and others worked for M.E.C.H but they were all trying to shoot her. That's when she called the Autobots and ran for dear life. The closest cover was the corner of the building where the laboratory was, and just after Artemis had gotten around the corner to hide, Ivo had calmly strolled out, one of his annoying MONKIS sitting in his arms.

'Perfect. Where the hell are you guys?' Artemis thought bitterly to herself. Ivo calmly looked around at the chaos that Artemis had created and smiled.

"Well my little ones, do you think we should help the poor useless buffoons?" The robot cackled irritatingly. "I'll take that as a yes." The little green creature leapt from its creator's arms and raced off to find the blonde. Internally cursing again, Artemis pressed herself up against the wall and held her breath. Where the hell were the bots?

* * *

Smokescreen had run ahead of the group, cutting through armed guards as if they were water. Dangerous water with laser guns that were actually causing a bit of damage to his armor, but still water. He had managed to reach the northeast side of the compound, but there was no sign of his partner yet. Growing more and more frustrated every time more guards showed up, the Autobot was beginning to wish Prime wasn't so strict on the 'thou shalt not kill a human' rule. In his optics, Luthor deserved to be curb stomped just as much as any Decepticon he knew. As the others busied themselves with keeping the ever increasing number of guards at bay, Smokescreen devoted all his attention into finding a blonde with a grey sweater. Where the Pit was she?

* * *

In the end, it was Artemis who found Smokescreen. While the corner had initially provided the most cover when she ran there, it was proving to be a tactical disadvantage when Ivo's accursed MONKI found her. She really, really hated these stupid things. Laughing manically it lunged for her, snagging her hair in its robotic fingers. Hissing in pain, she tried to throw the thing into the wall behind her, but she didn't have enough room to move, and ended up hitting her own head too. The MONKI wrapped its tail around her neck cutting off her supply of oxygen and suddenly, while still griping Artemis by the hair and neck, threw itself to the left. Already being off balance, the machine made her stumble and fall until they were tussling on the ground. Ivo, hearing the commotion, ambled over and watched with an amused expression.

"My MONKIs are fond of you, aren't they?" Artemis didn't respond, and managed to rip its tail away from her neck. Ivo continued to watch while the archer began dealing with its grip on her hair. Now that she was out of the corner, she had more maneuverability and was faring far better than before. She slammed her head into the ground, catching the MONKI's arms and tail, making the annoying laugh change in pitch slightly. It sparked when she did it again, and when she seized its arms in her fists and tugged, a splintering sound was heard as its arms were ripped from their sockets. Ivo's smile disappeared as the blonde stood up, pulling pieces of MONKI from her long blonde mane. He looked at her, fear in his eyes as she regained her footing. She looked at him and feinted lunging at him. He flinched, bringing his hands up to guard his head, making Artemis give a biting laugh.

"You're pathetic. I would kill you right now so you couldn't reveal my secrets or do anything with them, but then I'd have two stoic leaders reading me the riot act. So I'll settle for threatening you. Leave me alone, don't hurt my friends, or I will tear you to pieces and feed you to your ridiculous MONKIs. Got it?" Without waiting for an answer, the heroine sprinted away, turning around the second corner she came across, nearly running straight into a giant blaster. It charged up, and the blonde dropped to the ground to avoid getting shot.

"Scrap! Artemis!" A familiar voice said over the sound of the weapons powering down. "Are you crazy? I nearly shot you!" Artemis grinned and took Smokescreen's outstretched hand and stood, extremely relieved to see her friend again.

"What took you so long Hotshot?" She asked. "I know humans that move faster than you!"

"Super humans don't count." He stated, handing her the back-up bow and quiver he always had with him. She took it and slung the quiver around her shoulders. "Come on, let's find the others." Smokescreen picked up his charge gently and ran back the way he came, heading towards the sounds of gunfire. They rounded a corner and were almost immediately shot. If not for the Phase-Shifter kicking in, several rounds of laser fire would have cut right through them. After realizing this fact, the two of them spotted Fowler and Optimus using a large canister as cover and made their way over to them.

"So, keeping a low profile?" Artemis asked Fowler.

"Found her!" Smokescreen said proudly to Optimus.

"Good." Optimus activated his comm. link and contacted the base. "Ratchet. We require a Ground-" Before he could finish his sentence, a sniper, who was perched on the top of a nearby building hit Optimus in his left shoulder blade. The second the bullet connected, an electrical field exploded around his body, sending a shock to his processor. The titan went down, and Artemis turned around and shot at the sniper while Smokescreen tended to Optimus. The sniper dodged the arrow and fired again, this time aiming for Smokescreen, luckily missing. Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead were hiding behind another canister adjacent to Optimus, Smokescreen and the humans, and saw it all.

"OPTIMUS!" Arcee yelled, worry oozing out of her voice and facial expression.

"He's alright, just stunned!" Smokescreen assured her, though his face wasn't a shining one of confidence.

"We need to get out of here now!" Fowler pointed out, shooting at the sniper with his hand gun. Just then, the doors to the warehouse burst open, and goons carrying guns similar to the snipers burst out and aimed their guns at the Autobots. They were surrounded and outgunned.

"You've got to be kidding me." Artemis breathed angrily. The guards who had been shooting at them before stopped firing and the sounds of slow clapping echoed across the compound. Luthor came out, flanked by Bishop and Ivo while Mercy stood protectively to the side.

"I have to say Miss. Crock, I'm impressed. You have a knack  
for destroying my warehouses." Luthor chuckled. "But if I were you, I would surrender; those new electrical laser rifles are able to drop Superman, and as you can already see, works well on Autobots as well." He said, gesturing towards Optimus. Arcee snarled angrily at him, but reluctantly lowered their weapons.

"You're a piece of scum, you know that?" Arcee asked. Luthor shrugged.

"An opinion. But I'd like to thank you Miss. Crock. Not only have you given me valuable information about the aliens, but you've brought them straight to me." Artemis glared at him hatefully.

"Oh, go to hell." She snarled. Fowler nodded in agreement.

"Ah, ah, ah. I'd watch your language if I were you. After all, you wouldn't want your host to be upset you would? I'm not a very nice person when I'm upset." Luthor waved his hands, and the guards with the electricity weapons raised them and pointed them all right at Smokescreen. Artemis sneered at him, but held her tongue. "Good girl."

"What do you want Luthor?" Bulkhead demanded.

"Oh I don't want anything with you. I already have the information I desire, and weapons that can beat you. My associate on the other hand…" Bishop stepped forward with an evil look on his face. "I believe he has his own agenda." Bishop smiled at them cruelly.

"You won't win. We'll beat you, just like last time." Smokescreen called boldly, the guns still aimed at him. Luthor chuckled.

"And how do you plan to do that? You're without your fearless leader, and both your humans are in the same boat as you."

"We just need some help getting traught." Artemis proclaimed. "After all, you only have us contained in a secret military base outside Vegas with a lot of high tech weaponry." Smokescreen looked at his partner.

"Thanks for stating the obvious." Artemis rolled her eyes at him and smacked his wrist. Folwer also gave her a strange look, but he was the only one to notice a faint light blinking from inside Artemis' hoodie.

"Shut it." She whisper snapped, looking skywards.

"Well Agent Bishop, they're all yours. I'll assume you're going to move them to one of M.E.C.H's more properly equipped facilities?"

"As soon as we get these Bots wrapped up, we'll be out of your hair… figuratively speaking of course." Luthor's smile faded for just an instant before returning to his normal serene smile.

"Of… course. And the humans?" Luthor asked eyeing the two glaring Earth heroes. Bishop shrugged.

"They're not directly useful to me, so if you have a further use for them, you can keep them." He said indifferently. "Though, it may be smarter to take them along. Far easier to get people-or robots- to do what you want when you're holding something over their heads…"

"Very true. However, if you do insist on taking my very valuable hostages with you, I am going to require more of your technology." Bishop's eyes popped out from behind his sunglasses.

"What? We've already given you most of what we have already developed!"

"Don't lie to us Agent Bishop. We all know that M.E.C.H has far more technology, prototypes or otherwise stored in different warehouses across the world." Ivo said with a superior tone. Bishop spluttered for a few moments before calming down and talking to Luthor in a hushed voice.

"What's with the beeping?" Fowler asked inconspicuously while the bad guys were distracted.

"Plan B… or C… Whichever plan we're on." She looked up and smirked to herself.

"What?" Smokescreen asked, seeming genuinely confused. "Did I miss something?" Just then, Optimus groaned, and his optics fluttered open.

"Prime! Are you alright?" Fowler asked, his attention snapping to the leader.

"I believe I will be fine." Optimus said with another groan.

"You better be. It's about to get hectic." Artemis told them all in a hushed voice, before cocking her ear to the side.

_"Are you guys ready, Rob?" _She asked over the mind link that Miss. Martian had set up once they had arrived in the camouflaged Bio-Ship.

_"Engines ready and raring to go 'Mis"_

_"Good. Wait for my signal. By the way, you told the others about my new friends right?"_

_"More or less. Ready when you are." _Artemis breathed out a sigh of annoyance and turned her head to Bumblebee, Arcee and Bulkhead. "Get ready to move…" Luthor and Bishop turned back to their prisoners.

"So it's decided then. The entire group will go with you, but so will Ivo so that you can educate him on several pieces of weaponry." Bishop made a signal, and the M.E.C.H goons lowered their weapons to start a prisoner transfer. Artemis nodded to her comrades before speaking.

"Now." There was a sudden rush of wind, and a streak of yellow and red as all the weapons that could do serious damage to the Autobots were pulled out of the guards' hands and at the same time, the Bots drew their weapons and pointed them at the guards. Luthor's smile vanished and Artemis smirked proudly at him. "Gotcha." Luthor sneered at her.

"Open fire." The regular guns went off, accompanied by the laser weapons, but before they could do any damage to the humans, Smokescreen and Bumblebee protectively moved in front of them to block the shots. The Autobots returned fire, and pushed the goons back. A sound that sounded like an incoming missile soaring overhead filled their ear, and in another second, the ground shook as a carter appeared in front of them. A black haired, muscular boy rose dramatically from the hole and the laser fire stopped.

"Father." He said looking at Luthor and ignoring the heroes behind him. Luthor's smile returned, but it was tight and forced.

"Superboy. What a nice surprise." The same streak of red and yellow flashed and a red haired boy appeared next to Superboy.

"Hey, what about me? You happy to see me too?" Kid Flash whined before turning around and winking at Smokescreen and Artemis. "And what about them?" An oddly shaped red ship suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The hatch was open and five teenagers were standing together in a semi-circle, arms crossed and glaring daggers at Luthor. The Autobots stared at the young heroes. Bumblebee whirred and looked over at Artemis.

"I'm assuming this is your Plan C?" Smokescreen translated, though he already knew.

"How could you tell?" She asked grinning.

"Luthor! Release our friends and we will leave in peace!" A dark skinned boy with gills commanded with authority.

"I'm afraid you'll have to negotiate with Agent Bishop over here. But this is private property, so I must insist you leave immediately, or be forcibly removed." Luthor threatened. Superboy rolled his eyes. Nobody moved for a good four seconds. "You have five seconds to leave…" Smokescreen watched Artemis, who had suddenly perked up, as if someone had spoken to her. Then she shook her head the say way she did when Miko said or did something stupid. She looked up at her friends and then over at Superboy and Kid Flash before turning to the Autobots.

"Get out of here, and we'll provide cover."

"Are you certain?" Optimus asked?"

"Perfectly. Now go!" She hissed as Luthor got to five. The shots rang out again, only this time, the five teenagers on the ship leapt down, and along Kid Flash and Superboy, started fighting with the goons. Artemis too broke away from her guardian and drew her bow, firing her usual arrows at the bad guys. She fell in line with the shortest boy, who was wearing a red and yellow costume with a large R on the left breast. He didn't seem to have any powers and had a similar fighting style to Artemis, though he didn't use a bow and arrow. A girl who was dressed as a magician and a girl with green skin joined them, the magician speaking in a strange dual voice and the green skinned girl seemed to be throwing people around with her mind. It was the first time Smokescreen had seen Artemis fight other humans and not sentient robots who could crush her like a bug. Just by watching the Team for a few short minutes, Smokescreen could tell that they were good; very good. Artemis, along with the short boy and the magician, worked together to take down the bad guys closest to themselves by covering each other as well as fighting for themselves. Superboy, the boy with gills and Kid Flash fought close up and personal, working on the largest group of goons while the green girl and an African American girl fought from the skies, taking out any stragglers. It was incredible to watch how they communicated without speaking, making short work of the goons. While the Autobots fired a few shots to cover themselves, they found that the teenagers had the situation well under control. Soon enough, the only standing M.E.C.H and LexCorp goons was Luthor, Bishop, Mercy, Ivo and a handful of regular enforcers. The Bots were waiting with Fowler near the entrance, keeping it clear for the heroes while the Team surrounded the villains.

"Still think you won't lose?" Kid Flash asked Luthor cheekily.

"We will be going now. Miss. Martian, call the Bio-Ship." The boy with gills said. Smokescreen assumed he was Aqualad, the Leader from what Artemis had told him.

"You guys get back to Jasper and we'll meet up you around there alright?" Artemis said suddenly from next to him. She was accompanied by the youngest boy, who looked up at them with an excited smile. A red ship out of the air above the teenage heroes and several lines descended from its hull.

"Sounds good. Be safe." Smokescreen said quickly as he noticed reinforcements for Luthor arrive.

"You too." Artemis murmured before wrapping one of the lines around her upper arm and giving it a tug. The younger boy mirrored her, as did Kid Flash, Aqualad and Superboy, making all of the lines retract, taking the heroes with them. The magician said something in a language that Smokescreen didn't understand to get to the ship and the other two girls simply rose into the air. The Bots followed suit, driving away from the base with Fowler riding in Artemis' usual spot. Someone, or a group of people were yelling at them, and a few even tried to shoot them, but the bullets were far less effective than laser fire and electrical weapon M.E.C.H was using on them before. After driving a mile or two away, Arcee called for a bridge.

"Ratchet, we could use a Groundbridge here…" She said over the comm. Link. She gave him their coordinates and the glowing green portal opened. The Autobots drove through it, but Smokescreen paused to watch the red Bio-ship fly overhead.

"She'll be fine." Fowler assured him.

"Yeah I know. But now that Luthor doesn't need her anymore, what's stopping her from flying away in that ship and never coming back?" He asked worriedly.

"Only you Hotshot. But I think that's more than enough to convince her to stay." Smokescreen sighed internally before driving through the portal.

* * *

The Bio Ship was never crowed thanks to its ability to warp the size of its interior. However, with eight excited teenagers high off their adrenaline rush and having been missing their eighth member for months, it was easy for the Team to forget the fact about such things as personal space. Arms were wrapped around Artemis' waist and shoulders the moment the Bio Ship sealed in tight hugs and happy laughter filled all of their ears. It was impossible to tell who it was squeezing the air out of her lungs, but Artemis didn't mind. After all, she was squeezing back just as hard. But it wasn't long before the Team wanted answers.

"What on Earth were those things?" Raquel demanded, having been out of the loop the longest.

"Were those giant robots? That could talk?" Zatanna pestered, looking slightly hurt this was the first she had heard of them.

"What did Luthor and Ivo want?" Kaldur finally asked, steering the line of questioning back to something useful. Artemis, who was still being hugged by Wally, took a deep breath.

"It's a really long story."

"We have time." Conner put in. Artemis nodded and explained what had happened to her since being put on leave from the Team, including how she met the Autobots, finding her father, bonding with Smokescreen and rescuing him from the Decepticons. The Team listened with rapt attention, with Robin or Kid Flash adding in a few points from their own experiences with the Cybertronians. Finally, about a half hour later, she ended by explaining what had happened before she contacted them.

"-So I told Ivo about some fake weaknesses so that he would build his weapon to utilize those instead of the real weaknesses. If it worked, the weapon should have little to no effect on them. Then I called the Bots for pick-up, which didn't work out too well, forcing me to call you guys. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier…"

"I've actually heard of these Cybertronians before." M'gann admitted. "Some landed on Mars and they had a great battle on some of the Olympus Mountains. Uncle J'onn was really young when they came, but he says he remembers it being terrifying and entrancing at the same time."

"Still, I should have let you all know after Wally and Rob found out…"

"We all have our secrets." Kaldur assured her. "It was not your place to tell us outside of dire circumstances."

"Wait a minute here." Raquel said. "Since you've already told Luthor all you know, doesn't that mean he doesn't need you anymore?" Raquel asked. It was a good question. Technically speaking, if Luthor didn't need her anymore, and since her father was in fact, alive and as healthy as a criminal who got shot at every night could be, there was really no more reason to stay in Jasper.

"I… guess not." Artemis murmured looking down at her hands.

"That's fantastic!" Zatanna squealed, going in for another hug. "That means you can come back to the Team again!"

"Yeah! And you can move back to Gotham!" Robin said excitedly!

"And who doesn't want to live in Gotham?" Artemis muttered. "But-uh- before that, let's meet up with the others, alright?" Despite the fact she should be jumping for joy at the prospect of returning to her old life back in Gotham, the archer discovered that the thought was far less appealing then she had originally thought it would be. For the rest of the flight back towards Jasper, the Team discussed how they would celebrate the return of their archer while Artemis stewed in her seat.

"Babe? Are you alright?" Wally asked while the others talked happily. "You've been kinda quiet."

"I'm just tired."

"You sure?" Wally asked with concern oozing from his voice and eyes. The blonde sighed and nodded. Deciding not to push her, Wally settled for giving her a quick peck on the cheek and hugging her tightly again. Finally they were over Jasper and Artemis radioed the base.

"Artemis to base." She said into her phone.

_"Artemis!" _Raf's excited voice cried. _"Are you back yet? Agent Fowler said you took the long way back to catch up with your friends!" _Artemis chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm back! Can you ask Optimus where he wants us to meet?" There was a brief pause before Raf returned.

_"He said to meet them on the roof of the silo!" _

"Okay, thanks Raf! See you soon." She hung up and directed M'gann to the Autobot base. As they arrived, they could see five gargantuan figures waiting them. M'gann landed the ship and opened the hatch for the others to climb out. As she left the Bio-Ship, Artemis couldn't help but fear that this may be one of the last times she ever saw the comforting silo and her new friends again.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed! Thank you so much for reading, as well as those who reviewed, followed and favorited! You guys are awesome! See you soon!**


	18. I Won't Go If You Stay Here

**Hey guys! I know this took a while, but I was in BC and there was no internet at the place I was staying there! This chapter isn't very action packed, but it wraps up the Luthor/MECH stuff so the next chapter will be ridiculously action packed! As usual thank you so much for all the reviews and support you've shown since the beginning! You guys are awesome! Without further ado, please enjoy! :D**

* * *

It was about five o'clock when the Bio-Ship touched down on the roof of the old missile silo that was being used as the Autobot base. Smokescreen watched the red alien ship land, and bounced on the balls of his feet in anticipation. Not only was he worried about the wellbeing of his partner, but he was a little bit excited about meeting Artemis' team. She had spoken about them so often, he really wanted a face to put to the names and characteristics she had described.

The door to the Bio-Ship didn't so much as open as it did dematerialize. It was the complete opposite of a Cybertronian ship; it was more organic then it was machine. The first one off the ship was the dark skinned boy that Smokescreen decided was called Aqualad based off Artemis' description. Behind him, a boy with black hair, black pants, and a black t-shirt a red ensign, who Smokescreen remembered was Superboy, was scowling as Kid Flash tried to make a joke about Luthor. Three girls came after, one with short dark brown hair, one with shoulder length black hair, and the other with wavy red hair that fell to her shoulders and had green skin. They were quiet, but they were looking up at the Autobots with wide eyes. Finally, another boy with black hair and a colourful outfit walked out with Artemis, the boy cackling quietly, and his arm draped over the archers' shoulder. As she stepped off the ship, her gray eyes scanned the Autobots and fell upon her protector. Instantly, they lit up and her smiled grew.

"Arty!" He breathed in relief. Her grey hoodie was torn and her hair was a bit tangled, but otherwise she looked alright. The humans walked until they were about ten feet away from the Cybertronians. Meanwhile, the human partners of the aliens starred, almost star struck at the teenage heroes. Miko in particular seemed more giddy than normal.

"T-t-that's Robin!" She squealed quietly to her male compatriots. The boy who had his arm around Artemis wore the biggest smirk Smokescreen had ever seen. For a moment, nobody moved. The two teams simply sized each other up while Artemis looked around at everyone. The heroes all looked curious or intrigued at the robots, all with different levels of inquisitiveness. The only one who didn't look the least bit interested was Superboy, who still looked upset from Kid Flash's teasing. On the other side, the Autobots were far better at masking their interest, though you could still see that they too were intrigued by the heroes they had heard so much about. Only Folwer was giving them a suspicious look. Finally Artemis stepped forward.

"Uh, Team, these are the Autobots. Team Prime, this is the uh, Team." She said floundering for a proper title for the humans and gesturing to each team. The dark skinned boy stepped forward.

"I am Aqualad. This is Superboy," He gestured to his left at the surly boy, confirming Smokescreen's previous notion. He glowered and nodded his head once. "Kid Flash," Again he pointed out the most colourful hero. He gave a playful wink in Miko's direction, who let out a little squeal of happiness. "Rocket," That was the pretty girl with short brown hair. She raised to fingers to her temples in a casual salute and grinned.

"Hiya."

"Miss Martian," The girl with green skin smiled and waved, keeping one hand behind her back. "Zatanna," The girl with black hair gave them a friendly smile. "and Robin." Finally, the boy who was cackling waved enthusiastically. Miko giggled again and waved back. Now she was positively bouncing.

"I am Optimus Prime. And this is my Team. Arcee, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Smokescreen and Ratchet." Each Autobot gave an inclination of their head or a tiny wave. "And these are our human companions, Jack, Miko and Raf and our government liaison, Agent Fowler." Miko was just as excited as she was when she first discovered the Autobots.

"HI!" She said happily.

"So… now that introductions are done with…" Artemis said, slowly trying to migrate over to the Autobots.

"We thank you for your intervention this afternoon. I fear the mission would not have gone as well as it did without your assistance." Optimus said nodding his head. Aqualad smiled at him, as did the others.

"It's what we do." Kid Flash said with bravado.

"We should be thanking you! For keeping Artemis safe!" Miss. Martian said, looking indeed, quite grateful. Artemis, on the other hand, rolled her eyes.

"You remember I can take care of myself right?" She asked, though no one paid any attention to her.

"It was no problem! Nope, none at all! So are you really one with the night and can you really run faster than the speed of sound? That would be so cool!" Miko said, her excitement exploding out of her like a bullet. "Is Atlantis really under water? Can you talk to fishes? Are you like Martian Manhunter's daughter or something? You look a lot like him! And you're Icon's sidekick right? That is so cool! Can you really fly? And you're Superboy right? So you must be Superman's brother, right? And what do you do? You look like a magician!" She asked in rapid fire. Only the speedster was able to understand her perfectly.

"Slow down there Miko." Jack cautioned, though he was smiling. Kid Flash grinned.

"No, yes, yes, yes, no she's his niece, yes, yes, yes, not technically though I guess you could consider them brothers, and yes she is one." He said. Miko's eyes shone with excitement.

"Awesome!"

"Okay, my turn!" Rocket burst out suddenly. "So you guys are alien robots with, like plasma blasters right?" Optimus chuckled while Ratchet looked slightly indignant.

"Robots. Ha!" He muttered, but, like Artemis, was ignored.

"They are not plasma blasters, but yes, you are correct."

"That. Is so cool. And you turn into cars and trucks and bikes and drive around like normal vehicles?" Rocket grinned, looking at the Cybertronians in awe.

"Yup! They have this alternate mode that lets them turn into vehicles!" Miko explained.

"Asterous." Robin said, his eyes roaming all over the Autobots, looking like he wouldn't mind dissecting them to see how they worked. Bumblebee buzzed and whirled a thank-you.

"How did you guys end up on Earth anyways? I was always taught that Cybertron was galaxies away." Miss Martian asked.

"It's a long story." Bulkhead murmured.

"We all arrived at different times for different reasons." Arcee elaborated. All of a sudden, there was a single beep that came from Robin's glove. Every looked around at him.

"Uh guys? Batman wants to know where we went and why we left without telling anyone where we were going." Aqualad glared at Kid Flash.

"You were supposed to leave a note for Black Canary." He said with a hint of accusation in his tone.

"Hey, my girlfriend was in trouble! Excuse me for forgetting one tiny detail!" The yellow and red clad speedster said defensively.

"You also left the TV and oven on, and you forgot to get your popcorn out of the microwave and left the fridge door open." Zatanna added, ticking off the items on her fingers. Kid Flash glared at her.

"So what am I telling Bats?" Robin asked.

"You can't tell him anything!" Artemis burst out before blushing slightly. "Well, you can't tell him about the Autobots!" She amended.

"Assuming he doesn't already know." Superboy muttered.

"Artemis is correct. I believe it would be for the best if our existence was kept secret from as many people as possible." Optimus explicated.

"Not to mention their existence was being kept from the Justice League on purpose." Agent Fowler added.

"What? Why?" Artemis asked, giving him a confused look.

"Well, while most of us believe that the Justice League is a force for good, some are afraid that there could come a day when the League uses their phenomenal power to over throw the government. Having an alliance with the Bots would only make them more afraid." Fowler said with a shrug. "They're afraid of the power the League holds."

"Politics." Superboy spat with a roll of his eyes.

"Just tell him that we got an emergency call from Artemis and were out dealing with it." Aqualad ordered. Robin ducked towards the Bio-Ship to inform his mentor. He returned a few moments later.

"He wants us to get back to the Cave ten minutes ago." He said, his voice bordering on sarcastic.

"I guess we should be going then. You coming 'Mis?" Zatanna asked, looking expectantly at the blonde. Smokescreen felt his spark throb suddenly in panic. Her eyes darted in between the heroes and the Autobots, the conflict plain to see in her eyes. Fowler walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Why don't you stay here and let your mother know you're alright?" He suggested in an almost parental tone. Her face flooded with relief and she nodded.

"Good idea." She said gratefully.

"Cool, we'll give you a lift!" Kid Flash offered, suddenly appearing next to his girlfriend with a rush of air and lifting her into his arms.

"No. It's alright, I'll take her." Smokescreen offered, taking half a step forward. The red head's expression fell and he looked at his girlfriend who gave the slightest of nods. He nodded back put her down. She gave him a quick, but passionate kiss. The others came up to her and gave her tight hugs, and Robin hugged so tightly that he lifted her off the ground. For someone that small, he was fairly strong.

"I'll call you tonight, alright? And then we can talk properly." They nodded and boarded the Bio-Ship which took off, and then camouflaged itself. As soon as it was gone, Miko rushed up to the archer and threw her skinny arms around the blonde's shoulders.

"I'm glad you're alright." She said, much more subdued then the others would have thought she would be.

"I'm glad to be back." Artemis said after recovering from her shock. Raf and Jack came over to get their hugs as well.

"So has Luthor finally decided to leave you alone?" Raf asked. Artemis nodded.

"I think so. He got what he think he wanted."

"You didn't tell them about the Bots did you?" Jack asked worriedly. The blonde rolled her eyes at him.

"Of course not! I told Ivo- that's Luthor's mad scientist- about some fake weaknesses so that he would build his weapon to utilize those instead of the real weaknesses. If it works, the weapon should have little to no effect on them." She said with a grin. Miko laughed her excitement quickly returning.

"Can you believe we just met Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Rocket?" She squealed running over to her guardian. "They are the coolest sidekicks of all time!" Artemis made a quiet noise of indignation in the back of her throat, folding her arms across her chest.

"Not sidekicks." She said heatedly under her breath. The boys around her chuckled and Smokescreen nodded towards the door.

"Come on, I'm sure your mother wants to be sure you're alright."

"Good plan. I told her I was going to be studying over at Jack's house."

"Then she definitely knows something's up. You never study." Jack grinned.

"Ha, ha. You're hilarious. Come on Hotshot, let's go before my sides spilt." Smokescreen looked over at Optimus who nodded.

"We'll be back soon." Smokescreen called as they headed downstairs. 'I just hope both of us will.' He thought.

* * *

"So you're okay?" Artemis asked once they were out of the base and speeding down the Nevadan highway. "Luthor didn't get you? What about Optimus? He's alright?" Her tone was laced with worry and a twinge of fear.

"Relax Kid. We're all fine. Even Optimus. It takes more than a few human weapons to hurt him." Smokescreen's voice said reassuringly from the dashboard. She exhaled in relief.

"Good. I have enough on my conscious as is."

"What do you mean?" Smokescreen asked, his worry bubbling to the surface again. He had been so concerned about his partner's physical wellbeing he had almost forgotten that since Luthor no longer needed her, she had no reason to stay in Jasper.

"It's nothing. Just some stuff with my mom." She mumbled, looking out the window as the desert rolled past them.

"What is it? You can tell me anything Kid." After a brief silence, she looked back at his steering wheel.

"Well, it's just that I'm not sure what my mother is going to do now that Luthor's more or less taken care of." She admitted looking off into the distance.

"So," Smokescreen began, not knowing whether or not he wanted to know the answer to his question. "What do you think she will want to do?"

"I don't know… She'll probably want to stay here. It's cleaner then Gotham." The tightness in Smokescreen spark lessened ever so slightly.

"What about you? What do you want to do?"

"Me? I don't know. What do you want to do?" If Smokescreen hadn't been a car he would have blinked several times as he tried to understand her question.

"Uh, what?"

"What are you going to do when your planet is revived? We've recovered all four keys remember?" Realization dawned on the Autobot as they merged onto the ramp that would take them into the town.

"Oh. Moving back to Cybertron."

"Yeah. You were going to text me when you got there." Artemis said with definite bitterness in her voice.

"Oh. Right." Artemis was silent while Smokescreen thought about it. If not for his partner, he would leave for Cybertron in a heartbeat. This world was low on Energon, had awful weather half the time and the fact he couldn't walk around in public was just plain annoying. But the relationship he had forged with the blonde human in his care was a strong anchor tying him to the planet.

"I don't want to leave you." He said finally. Artemis nodded.

"Me neither. When I first moved here, all I wanted was to go home. But then you showed up and somehow managed to grow on me. I have no clue how that happened, but when I think about leaving you, I start getting chalant."

"I've never met anyone who uses such weird words." He hummed, making Artemis crack a smile.

"Blame Robin. You try not to use his words, but they just work so well sometimes."

"He's also one of the reasons you want to go back to Gotham." Smokescreen added.

"Yeah. It's not even that I want to go back to Gotham. I just want to rejoin the Team."

"Which is hard to do all the way out here." The archer nodded.

"The nearest Zeta tube is all the way in Vegas, and by the time I get there, the mission would be over."

"Couldn't we Ground Bridge you to wherever the problem is?" Smokescreen suggested.

"It's a good idea, but it wouldn't work. We're supposed to be a covert team, and a glowing green portal isn't the subtlest thing out there. Besides, I'd have to go for training after school too, and I don't think I could Ground Bridge into the Cave." They pulled up at their usual drop-off spot and Smokescreen cut his engine.

"So how about a deal?" He asked as she got out.

"I'm listening."

"If I don't go back to Cybertron, you'll stay here, and if you stay here, I won't go back to Cybertron." Artemis snorted a little, but smiled and nodded, giving Smokescreen's hood a loving pat.

"Deal." As he drove back to the base the Autobot felt happier than he had in weeks. It was really too bad the feeling would dissipate within the week.

* * *

As promised, as soon as she had checked in with her mother, Artemis had gone to her Goddess Cave and contacted the Team. They were all gathered in the Cave and she was using a glorified version of Face Time on the computer Oliver and Bruce had set up for her.

"It's finally over!" Was the first thing Dick yelled in triumph once they could see each other. Everyone laughed.

"Now you can come home!" Zatanna grinned, leaning over her boyfriend's shoulder.

"Batman has informed us that as soon as he verifies that Luthor has no more use for you, he will organize your return." Kaldur told her proudly. Artemis' smile slid off her face slowly.

"That's… great."

"Artemis? What's wrong?" M'gann asked, looking concernedly at her Earth-sister.

"Well, I don't think I want to go back to Gotham…" She murmured indistinctly, so that only Conner could hear her.

"Why not?" He demanded, folding his arms over his chest.

"Why not what?" Wally asked.

"She doesn't want to move back to Gotham."

"Well, it's not like her place in Gotham was prime real-estate. No offence." Dick pointed out.

"None taken."

"Okay, then I'm sure that GA could find you a place in Star City. It would save him a Zeta Tube trip." Raquel suggested.

"There you go! Problem solved!" Wally said happily. "When you get back, I am going to take you on the best date of your life!"

"That's great Wally, but not what I meant…" Artemis sighed.

"So what is the problem?" Kaldur asked.

"Okay, don't take this the wrong way or anything, but I've made friends here. Good friends."

"Well, you could always text them!" Wally suggested. Artemis glared at him and M'gann elbowed him in the side.

"Why doesn't she just text you instead?" Conner hissed, still mad at the speedster for jibing at him about Luthor.

"Because she's dating me." Wally shot back.

"Calm down Wally. We all know just texting isn't going to solve anything." Dick chided.

"So what do you want to do?" Kaldur asked. Artemis shrugged.

"I want to stay here in Jasper believe it or not, but I also want to stay apart of the Team."

"But Jasper is so far away from the nearest Zeta Tube! It would take forever for you to get out here!" M'gann sighed.

"I know, I know." The blonde sighed. "That's the problem."

"It's a pretty big problem…" Zatanna sighed forlornly. "It's too bad there isn't a Zeta Tube in Jasper. That way, you could do the same as me. Just teleport in for training and missions." Everyone was quiet as they looked at the magician.

"Huh. That's an idea." Wally mused. "We would need to find somewhere discrete to put it, but that shouldn't be too hard."

"We would also need the Leagues permission." Kaldur added.

"And it's not like can just explain the reason I want to stay is because I don't want to leave the robots in disguise I've befriended here." Artemis groaned.

"Just tell them that being out of the constant smog of Gotham is doing wonders for Arty's mom, so they want to remain in Jasper, but still want to be on the Team and help out GA." Raquel said. "If you ask Arrow, he's bound to say yes!" Artemis broke out into a grin. She was afraid that her friends wouldn't understand her need to stay in Jasper. But as usual, they proved the most perfect teammates she could ask for.

"Have I mentioned you guys are brilliant?" She asked happily. The others were smiling just as widely.

"It kind of goes without saying." Dick said flippantly.

"I'll phone GA about it tonight. Thanks for everything you've done for me today."

"Forget about it. You'd do the same." Conner told her bluntly.

"We'll let you get some sleep now." Zatanna said with a smile. "I'll pop by sometime next week to say hi, okay?"

"Sounds good. Love you guys."

"Love you too, babe. Try not to get yourself in anymore trouble while we're gone, okay?" Wally blew her a kiss and the screen cut to black. The archer grinned went back upstairs. She found her mother in the living room drinking tea. Artemis dropped to her knees in front of her mom and wrapped her arms around the woman's shoulders.

"Artemis? Are you feeling alright?" Paula asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

"I'm fine mom. How would you feel about staying here, and not moving back to Gotham?"

"I couldn't complain. But I thought you couldn't wait to go back."

"This place kind of grew on me. I just wanted to make sure you would be happy here. Love you." And she got up and started humming quietly as she went back to her room. Paula sighed and took another sip of her tea.

"Teenagers."

* * *

**Well, I hope you enjoyed! I'll try my best to get the next, more action packed chapter out in a timely fashion, but no promises! Then again, I have nothing to do this summer so who knows? Hope you're having an awesome summer and I'll see you soon! (I hope!)**


	19. BOOM!

**I know, this is obscenely late, but with the combination of laziness and the fact my internet has been gone all summer, I haven't really been keeping up with anything. I apologize for that, but I hope the length makes up for it! As usual thank you so much for the awesome reviews! It really makes my day when I check my email after three weeks of absence to find a ton of emails from Fanfiction! :D I would like to point out that I do not speak Vietnamese and had to use Google translate for the below words, so my apologizes if they are completely screwed up. What else? Oh yeah! I hope you enjoy! :D**

* * *

Zatanna popped by for her visit a few days later as she had promised. This time, the girls drove around in Smokescreen and entertained themselves with stories ranging from Smokescreen's time serving Alpha Trion and his days in the Elite Guard to the many mishaps Zatanna had while learning magic to their numerous Girls' Night outings. They went to their usual canyon to show the Cybertronian what an Earth magician could do and then chatted to Jack, Miko and Raf at the KO Burger. While the magician had been a little miffed about being left out of the loop by her best friend, she was still happy that Artemis was safe, and still on the Team. She left with the promise of coming over when the new Zeta Tube was operational.

In the meantime, Artemis was simply enjoying her time with her guardian. As a group, the humans hadn't been spending very much time at all with their protectors and didn't know what was going on. It wasn't long before the other humans discovered the true purpose of the Omega Keys and started making their own plans for when Cybertron was restored.

"I might not be the first human on Cybertron, but I'll be the first human exchange student!" Miko told Bulkhead casually from his shoulder. Artemis, who was stretching on the floor of the raised platform next to the couch raised an eyebrow.

"Would we even be able to breathe on Cybertron? I know the air is toxic now, but what about when it's restored?" She asked. Truth be told, she wouldn't mind visiting another planet. M'gann had always talked about going on a 'field trip' to Mars, but now that they all knew how unwelcome the White Martian was on her own planet, Artemis figured the Team would probably start a fight with someone who was rude to her and start a fight. At least on Cybertron, it would be much harder to start a fight.

"I'm not sure." Smokescreen admitted. He was standing with Bumblebee, both hovering behind the couch that Raf was sitting on. "It might have before going dark, but I'm not sure after it regenerates that the planet will have the same type of air quality. There's a good chance it'll still be toxic for humans."

"So why didn't you tell us about the Keys sooner?" Jack asked, sounding a tad wounded that his partner didn't trust him. Arcee shrugged.

"In case you haven't noticed, things have been pretty hectic around here." Artemis resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Busy or not, it would have been fairly easy to squeeze in a conversation about the possibility of the Autobots leaving Earth for good. They just wanted to put it off as long as they could to avoid dealing with it. After all, Smokescreen wasn't the only one who had made ties here.

"So guys could really be going home soon, huh?" Raf asked his guardian sadly. Before Bumblebee could reply, Miko cheerfully cut in.

"Don't worry Raf! You can come visit! Once we get our place set up, you can bunk with us, right Bulk?" Bulkhead looked awkwardly at the ground.

"Miko…" The Asian girl's face suddenly fell and turned into a look of sheer panic.

"You are taking me with you right?" She pleaded. Bulkhead was saved from having to answer when Ratchet irritably cut in.

"Aren't you getting ahead of yourselves? Not only are we lacking any method of getting to Cybertron, but Starscream now controls the keys to our planets restoration."

"As far as we know." Optimus put in.

"Does someone want to explain what exactly happened with that?" Miko asked. "None of us were here." Ratchet sighed.

"A few days after the Luthor mission, Starscream contacted us with an offer to exchange the fourth Omega Key for a functioning T-Cog. After deciding to accept his offer, we bridged to his location. However while we were distracted with one of his clones, using the Red Energon he slipped into our base and stole the Keys we had already recovered." He explained bitterly.

"What is he even going to do with the Keys? It's not like Screamer has a Spacebridge he could use to get to Cybertron." Miko said with a roll of her eyes.

You think Starscream's rejoined the 'Cons?" Smokescreen asked the leader.

"He may have used the Omega Keys to buy back Megatron's favor." Arcee pointed out grimly.

"Without trying to sell them to the highest bidder?" Ratchet cried incredulously. "I'm surprised he hasn't tried to sell them back to us already!" As soon as the words left his mouth, the computer beeped, signalling an incoming message. The humans all exchanged a puzzled look and headed over to the monitor, closely followed by their guardians.

"Okay, that is too weird." Bulkhead muttered.

"Is it Starscream?" Arcee asked. Ratchet shook his helm.

"No… it's Dreadwing… and he wants to meet."

"Ratchet, give us a Bridge. Once we are gone, Bridge the children to school." Optimus commanded. Miko let her displeasure at being kicked out the Base known and the Bots left. Artemis grabbed her bag off the floor and vaulted over the railing, landing gracefully on the floor.

"Show-off." Jack teased. Artemis smirked and shrugged.

"Hey, I have to keep in shape somehow." The others grabbed their own things and joined her on the floor. Ratchet typed in the commands and opened the Bridge.

"You'll be a few blocks away from the school so you won't arouse suspicion." He informed them and the glowing green portal materialized in front of them.

"Bye Ratchet!" Raf called before walking through the portal.

"Call us if anything goes boom!" Miko added, trailing behind Raf. Artemis and Jack both waved and followed the pair.

They appeared under a bridge just on the outskirts of town.

"So by a few blocks, I guess he meant a few hours away from school!" Miko grumbled once they realized where exactly they were.

"Relax Miko. We're only about a half hour's walk from the school." Jack soothed, already walking towards the sidewalk. Miko glanced over at the blonde and grinned at her.

"No chance you'll text your boyfriend and have him run us over to the school?" She asked hopefully. Artemis laughed.

"Nice try. But he's probably already at the base. Zee said something about a huge recon mission they were supposed to go on today. Or he's in Chemistry and he wouldn't skip that for the end of the world."

"Aw, you know each other's schedules!" Jack said in a baby voice. The archer roller her eyes and pushed him.

"Hey, when you're trying to organize training, you have to know when people have important classes." She said defensively. The others kept laughing for a while until the conversation turned back to the Autobots.

"Do you really think they're going to leave us?" Raf asked in a quiet, fearful voice. The mood immediately sobered, and the older teenagers exchanged a look.

"It's a possibility…" Jack said, trying to think up something comforting without blatantly lying about it.

"But we'll still be able to see them." Miko tired. Artemis sighed. It had occurred to her that even though she had managed to find a way to stay in Jasper, it might be difficult for Smokescreen to remain as well. After all, this was not his home, no matter how much she wanted it to be and he would be needed to fight the Decepticons on his own planet once it was revived.

"Besides, we don't even know if the Omega Keys will even work. And even if they do, it could take decades to fix an entire planet! By the time it's finished, we could be either dead or dying of old age." Artemis pointed out. For some reason, Raf didn't look very comforted by this fact. They continued walking in silence. Artemis sent a quick text to Smokescreen to find out what Dreadwing had wanted, but he didn't reply. Eventually, Miko spoke again.

"So if 'Bot do go back to Cybertron, and we can't go with them, what's going to happen to us?" Jack gave her a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?" Miko rolled her eyes and adjusted the strap on her backpack.

"I mean what are we going to do?" She gestured to the four of them. "It's not like we can just keep doing what we're doing without the 'Bots can we?" She asked with a condescending tone. The American teenagers exchanged a glance.

"You mean will we keep hanging out together even if the Autobots go back home?" Artemis translated.

"Exactly." Miko nodded.

"Well, if you guys want to, I'm all for it." Raf said. "You guys are my best friends." He said sincerely. Jack nodded.

"Who knows, maybe we could even con Fowler into letting us keep the base as a clubhouse." Artemis pointed out.

"Hey, I bet Raf could keep the Groundbridge working!" Miko cried suddenly, perking up. "I say, that every weekend we fire that baby up and go sightseeing!" The other smiled and laughed, their moods much lighter when they finally reached the school. There, they parted ways, Miko and Raf going to their homerooms and Artemis and Jack heading to theirs. They sat down in their usual seats at the back of the class room and fell into a comfortable silence, each wrapped up in their own thoughts. Artemis was getting slightly worried that Smokescreen wasn't returning her text, considering he almost always replied, even just to say he was busy and couldn't talk right now. But she figured he could just be out of range, or trying to sneak around somewhere and pushed the thought to the back of her mind.

* * *

Smokescreen didn't even realize that he had been texted. After Dreadwing had given them the Forge of Solus Prime and Optimus had decided to use it to build a Spacebridge in order to get to Cybertron, he wasn't really thinking about the humans in the Autobots care; after all, they were safe. Especially now that the battle with the Decepticons was heading back to Cybertron. As they grabbed all the relics that they had collected so far, and Optimus arrived with a newly forged Star Saber, Artemis was the last thing on his mind.

Everything went beautifully once they got to Cybertron. The Cons were falling left and right and the Autobots had already seized all four keys. The leader of the Decepticons was not pleased.

"I will have those Keys, or I will have your sparks!" Megatron screamed at the remains of his army. Smokescreen smirked at him.

"I can help with the last part." He said cockily, dropping the spark extractor and disappearing. For once, everything was going according to plan.

* * *

The day passed slowly. Everything that the teachers asked her to do seemed pointless and not worth her time. Whenever the blonde passed on of her friends in the hall, she could tell they were just as anxious for the day to end as she was. Even Raf seemed restless at lunchtime. Finally, the last bell of the day sounded, and the students flooded out of the building. The quartet met up on the main stairs and patiently waited for their guardians to arrive. After about a half hour though, Miko was beginning to lose her patience.

"Where are they? I'm going crazy here!" She complained, her left leg bouncing up and down with excess energy.

"Relax Miko. I'm sure they're on their way. They probably just got caught up with whatever Dreadwing wanted." Jack assured her. Miko only rolled her eyes. Artemis, who was also getting fidgety, stood up and brushed off her black capris.

"Here, show me your left hook." She suggested. Miko instantly perked up and joined her a few feet in front of the boys. After critiquing her form and giving the Asian girl some pointers for a while, Artemis turned back to the boys. "Still nothing?" Raf shook his head.

"I'm going to call the base. See if anything's wrong." He said, pulling out his phone. Miko and Artemis rejoined them on the stairs to listen in on the conversation. The phone rang twice before Ratchet picked up.

_"Optimus?" _

"No it's Jack." Jack said hesitantly. "Is something wrong? 'Cause school's been out almost an hour and no one has come to pick us up."

_"That's because the entire team is rather indisposed at the moment. I suggest you obtain an alternate means of transport."_ Ratchet sighed.

"What's he saying?" Miko asked, who was sitting too far away to hear.

"The bots are busy and we should take a bus." Artemis summarized.

"Then tell Ratchet to come get us! It's not like he has anything else to do!" Miko yelled into the phone. Ratchet audibly sighed before snapping at them.

"Just go home! I'll be in touch later!"

"H-h-ello? He hung up!" Jack said rather indignantly.

"What crawled up his tailpipe and died?" Miko muttered.

"Did he tell you what was going on?" Raf asked, straightening his glasses.

"No. They seem to be keeping us in the dark a lot lately." Jack said. Artemis sighed and stood up.

"Well we might as well get walking." The other got up and followed her. The archer made to turn onto Fourth Street, but Jack grabbed her hand.

"It's shorter if we cut through the back alley." Growing up in Gotham had taught Artemis you never, ever, go through an alley, even if it was the middle of the day. But she was tired and she reminded herself that this wasn't Gotham, but Jasper, which didn't have costumed psychopaths running around and was infinitely less dangerous. She shrugged and obediently followed Jack and Miko. They trekked through the alley with no problem whatsoever. They got to the road that lead to the main highway and walked along the road heading towards their neighbourhood.

"Hey guys, does it seem a little empty around here?" Raf asked after a moment. "This road is usually way busier…" The others looked around and noticed that Raf was correct; there wasn't a single car on the road, nor were there any other pedestrians walking on the sidewalk.

"That can't be a good sign." Miko said ominously. The group had stopped walking to look around at their surroundings. All of a sudden a car revved, making the other three whip their heads around to see a purple and black car a little ways down the road.

"Is that…" Raf asked in a scared voice.

"Run." Artemis commanded, pulling her crossbow out of her backpack with one hand and grabbing Raf's shoulder in the other.

"Good idea." Jack agreed. The four of them turned around and booked it in the other direction. The Vehicons' engine roared as it pursued them. Artemis fired a few crossbow bolts at its tires, but they were pretty much ineffective. Fully knowing they would never be able to outrun a car, they got off the main road as quickly as they could, ducking into a nearby alley, forcing the Vehicon to slow down. Raf was quickly running out of steam, prompting Jack and Artemis to grab his hand and drag him along while Miko took point.

"Keep away from busy streets!" Artemis cautioned as they took another turn.

"So where are we going?" Miko asked, struggling to keep the fear from her voice. Artemis looked to Jack who knew the area far better than she did. He quickly scanned the area and nodded to the left.

"We can hide under the overpass." He said. Miko nodded and veered to the left. Between the tight turns the teenagers were taking and the small space the alley provided, they were starting to lose the Con. Once they finally reached the overpass, and had hidden beneath it, pressing up against the concrete, their backpacks dropped on the ground, the Con was just out of sight, though the engine told them how close he was. They were all breathing heavily, fear clear on their features as well as holding hands. Artemis and Jack were on the ends, Artemis still clutching her crossbow, and holding firmly onto Miko's hand. Jack was madly texting while hanging onto Raf. The sound of the engine died leaving an eerie silence.

"Do you think he's gone?" Miko whispered, so quietly that only Artemis and Raf could hear her. The blonde shook her head. Why would the Cons give up so easily?

"They wouldn't have started chasing up if they were just going to give up they second they lost us for a second." She whispered back. Here suspicions were confirmed a second later when they hear a second car approach.

"Are you certain?" A silky voice asked. The humans' eyes widened as they looked at each other.

"Scrap." Jack hissed as the Vehicon answered.

"I am positive." The kids heard the sound of something transforming and heavy footfalls made the overpass tremble a little.

"Alright then. Come out, come out kiddies." Knockout purred, making the kids squeeze closer together. He was toying with them and they knew it.

"We need to get out of here." Jack mouthed.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Miko demanded in a hushed yell.

"We need a distraction." Artemis murmured, looking around for something to use. The ground shook suddenly and Miko screamed as Knockout suddenly leapt off the overpass and landed right in front of them.

"Found you." Knockout smiled, reaching for them.

"Scatter!" Jack commanded, pushing Raf to the left and running in the other direction. Miko and Artemis nodded and split up. The archer shot two bolts at Knockout's optics, finding that they were his weakest spot. The Decepticon lazily swatted the bolts away from his face and smiled predatorily.

"Well, if it isn't little miss archery girl." Knockout smirked. "I was hoping to see _you_ again." He swiped at Artemis, who rolled out of the way. The roar of jets made everyone look up. Artemis cursed as Soundwave and Starscream landed next to Knockout, effectively cutting off Miko, Raf and Jack's escape. "And  
look who's come to join the party!"

"Get fragged!" Miko yelled defiantly at Starscream who was reaching for her. She managed to dive out of the way just in time, but it was a close call. This was a fight they had no chance of winning, and there was no one they could call for back up. Not the Bots, and not the Team.

"Such language. Methinks these Earth brats need lesson in respect." Starscream said smoothly, leaning down to glare at Miko. The Decepticons had managed to herd the four children together just out from under the overpass, and surrounded them.

"Any ideas?" Jack asked in a hushed voice while Starscream and Knockout cackled, enjoying toying with their prey.

"Other than don't get caught? Not really. Nothing we throw at these guys is going to do any damage."

"Where's the Justice League when you really need them?" Miko muttered.

"What are we going to do?" Raf asked worriedly. Soundwave's tentacles had extended and were slowly snaking around them, just to be sure one of them wouldn't suddenly book it out of there. Artemis exchanged a defeated look with Jack.

"I have no idea." The Cons reached for them, and this time were able to snatch up their quarry. Knockout held onto Miko and Artemis triumphantly, Starscream was sneering unpleasantly at Jack and Soundwave merely held onto Raf. A Groundbridge appeared behind them and Soundwave turned around to walk through it.

"Field trip anyone?" Knockout asked looking at Starscream.

"Oh, I think I'd be up for one." The seeker purred, before leading everyone through the Bridge.

* * *

The Decepticon warship was still as dark and ominous as the last time Artemis had slipped aboard, though this time, there was significantly less guards running around. The Cons holding the humans walked into Knockout's lab and set them on a tall, secluded table. It was too high to jump from, and there was nothing on it to use as a weapon. As soon as Rafael was out of his servo, Soundwave turned and the left the room, presumably to go deal with something more important.

"Alright vermin, I want your cellphones and any weapons you have on you, if you please." Starscream demanded, holding out his servo. Miko snarled at him and slammed her phone down before adding in a defiant kick for good measure.

"Stupid fragger."

Before anyone could blink, Starscream snatched her up in his free servo and brought her close to his face. "Listen to me, you little pest." He sneered as the others cried out in alarm. Miko, for her part glared right back, looking completely unafraid. "Your precious Bulkhead isn't here to protect you this time. And while I can't afford squeeze you into a fine paste, I can still break every bone in your weak little body without a second thought." To illustrate his point, his grip tightened, making the Japanese girl splutter a bit, then stop breathing all together. "So I would show the proper respect." He held onto her tightly for another for moments before tossing her back onto the table just as quick as he picked her up, leaving her gasping on her hands and knees while the others tried to see if she was alright.

"And that goes for the rest of you." Knockout added. Miko muttered something unintelligible, probably in Japanese.

"What do you want with us?" Raf asked some of his confidence returning.

"You'll see soon enough. I don't want to spoil the surprise." Knockout grinned before turning away to fiddle with something on another table. Starscream joined him, leaving the humans to themselves a moment.

"With any luck it'll end the same way all bad guy plans do; with us laughing." Artemis whispered, only intending the humans to hear her and to comfort Raf a little. "Are you okay?"

"Natch." Miko coughed, breathing heavily.

"She's going to have some heavy bruising." Jack noted, looking at her arms.

"I'll be fine as soon as I can see Bulk kick Screamy all the way back to Cybertron." Miko growled. Artemis chuckled, perhaps a little too loudly and patted the other girl's shoulder. Knockout looked over at the humans and scowled at them, but before he could say anything, the door to the lab opened and a Vehicon walked in.

"Commander Starscream, Soundwave sent me to inform you that the containment pods are ready and the Spacebridge is ready."

"Excellent. Take a human and come with us." Starscream commanded, picking up Jack and Miko roughly. The Vehicon seized Raf and Knockout took Artemis, purposely walking behind the other two.

"You know, I think once you've fulfilled your purpose of bringing about the Autobot's destruction, I'm going to ask Lord Megatron if I can keep you as a lab rat." Knockout said conversationally.

"Why? Are that curious as to how a human managed to get you stuck in your own lab table?" Artemis asked, feigning innocence. Knockout's grip tightened but the archer forced herself not to flinch. She refused to be intimidated by the mad doctor. If there was one thing dealing with super villains had taught her, it was that bad guys made mistakes when they were angry.

"That was pure luck." Knockout said dismissively. "Besides, I'm not the one who's going to end up winning the war for her enemies." He added nastily.

"And yet, you got your can kicked so badly last time, and it was only against one Autobot and his plucky human partner. I'm not seeing how they can lose to anyone so incompetent they got lodged in their own table by their own weapon." Artemis responded. That was enough to get the medic to stop walking and make her face him.

"When Lord Megatron gives the word, I'm going to vastly enjoy making your death, and the death of your precious _partner_ as long and painful as I can." Artemis smirked up at him.

"I look forward to seeing how you do that in a full body cast." The others had turned a corner and disappeared from sight when Knockout growled and suddenly squeezed her tight enough to send the air rushing from her lungs. "I… didn't… know you… cared." She gasped out with her eyes screwed up in pain.

"I can't wait to hear you scream. But until then…" Relaxing his hold ever so slightly, the medic dragged what would amount be his thumb on a human hand across her face, starting at a half an inch below her ear on the right hand side and ending just past her cheekbone on the left hand side. Blood dripped over her lips leaving a coppery taste in her mouth. "A little something to remember me by, dearest." Artemis glared at him as he caught up with the others and unceremoniously dropped her into a glass container next to the others. Her eyes widened a fraction when she saw her fellow humans. Jack was sporting a split lip and one of his eyes was black and puffy. Miko's arms had a perfect imprint of Starscream's finger and were dark with purple and black bruises, she had a fairly large bump on her head and she looked slightly dizzy. Raf was cradling his arm leading Artemis to believe it was injured beyond mere bruising, making her temper flare even hotter.

"What happened to you?" Jack asked in concern.

"You know Knockout; he's a perfect gentlemen to people who have pissed him off." She said bitingly, wiping at the blood that was still dripping down her face. "What about you three? You look like you came between KF and food." Jack's face darkened despite Artemis' attempt at a joke.

"The Con carrying Raf was holding him too tight and he couldn't breathe, so Miko started shouting at him to ease up a bit. Screamer obviously didn't like that so he slammed her into a wall. Then when I told him to leave them both alone, the Con came over and smacked me." Artemis' eyes widened in horror before narrowing in fury.

"I swear when I get my hands on my bow again, I am going to out an arrow right through their sparks." She hissed.

"That's not very heroic." Miko said, her face a mix of angry, determined and ready to hurl.

"We'll call it my assassin upbringing kicking in." Artemis smirked, attempting to comfort the others a little.

"If we even get out of here." Raf said quietly, looking terrified out of his wits.

"Hey, the Bots will save us." Miko promised him, pressing her hand up against the glass.

"And then we can all go racing when we get back." Jack added.

"We'll be fine." Artemis agreed, praying she wasn't lying to her friends once again.

* * *

They were so close to the revival of Cybertron, he could almost taste it. The Omega Lock was transforming into its true glory, the light illuminating the Autobots standing under it. They were a few steps away from saving their home. Unfortunately, it was always when you were on the last few steps that the ground falls out from beneath your feet. Just as Smokescreen and the others were about to put their Keys into the lock, Megatron returned.

"Autobots! I would suggest that you put a halt to your task, and hand over those Keys." He instructed, calmly strutting towards them.

"And why would we do that?" Smokescreen asked putting as much insolence and sass into his words as he could. He immediately regretted his words when a Spacebridge opened, and Knockout, Starscream and Soundwave came out, holding onto jars containing the kids.

"So that I may hand over the humans." Megatron said with a gesture. Jack and Raf looked at the Autobots, with fearful and apprehensive expressions, Miko looked livid and Artemis determined. All of them seemed to be sporting injuries, Jack's face was bruised and his eye was puffy, Raf was clutching his arm, almost all of Miko's arms was dark with bruises, her face was slightly green, and Artemis' face was steadily dripping the same red liquid she had been rapidly losing when they had first met, all those months ago. Smokescreen's optics widened in panic, as did the other guardians.

"And if we refuse?" Optimus asked, not betraying anything with his tone or body language.

"Then I will have no choice but to open the pods, exposing your pets to Cybertron's toxic atmosphere." Megatron explained, getting into the Prime's personal space. Knockout, who was holding both Miko and Artemis lifted them both up to optic level and playfully swung them back and forth a little, making Miko gag. Starscream was also toying with Jack, but Soundwave remained motionless. "And then we can _all _watch them instantly perish, together." Smokescreen felt a powerful urge to tear Knockout to pieces well up inside him, and targeted the medic with his cannon. There was a silence as both sides sized the other up. It was broken with the quiet pound of Miko's combat boots against her prison as she tried to steady herself. Bulkhead was watching her with concerned optics.

"Not how I wanted to spend my first trip to Cybertron." She admitted, looking at the other humans. Artemis make a sound of agreement in the back of her throat, wiping her face and glaring furiously at Knockout.

"Starscream!" Megatron yelled, once his patience wore out.

"Jack! It's time to come out and play!" Starscream said in a sing-song voice before dragging his claws down the pod, making the boy cringe. Smokescreen glance at Arcee who was quaking with rage. She wasn't sure who exactly had harmed her partner this time, but she was livid.

"Go ahead. The Autobots were prepared to sacrifice themselves for my planet. I'll do the same for theirs." Jack told him defiantly.

"Me too, creepy!" Miko immediately echoed, giving Knockout a contemptuous sneer.

"Mhmm." Rafael murmured looking fearfully at Soundwave. Bumblebee's optics rotated in distress, Rafael's injured arm not escaping his sight.

"Looks like you'll get your wish after all, Doc." Artemis spat at Knockout. The medic grinned evilly at her, before glancing over at Smokescreen to see his reaction. The newbie snarled at him in response, knowing the cut on his partners' face was the medic's fault. While the blood flow had slowed, it was still dripping down her face.

"Perhaps we should oblige them." Megatron said, looking back at Optimus, dragging Smokescreen's attention back to the war lord. The kids shook their heads while the Autobot leader weighed his options.

"If my decision dooms the future of the Autobot cause on Cybertron, so be it. But I will never forsake the lives of our human allies." Optimus declared, impressively stabbing the Star Saber into the ground in front of him and backing away. The others followed suit, throwing their own upgrades towards the bad guys. The humans dropped their heads in shame, Artemis even kicking at her pod in frustration.

"What part of willing to die is so hard to understand?" She grumbled.

"Now if you please, the Omega Keys." Megatron demanded, holding out his servo. "One, at a time." Knockout handed Artemis' container to Soundwave and stepped forward.

"You first big boy." Bulkhead glowered at him and walked forward with his key.

"If I don't get the girl I'll make you eat this key." He promised, slamming said key into Knockout's servo.

"You're welcome." Bulkhead growled and turned away, eyeing Miko's injuries with distaste.

"Get scrapped." She shot back as Bulkhead took her to safety. Soundwave handed Artemis back to Knockout, who started drumming his claws against her cage while the communications officer stepped forward to meet with Bumblebee. The exchanged their goods at the same time. Bumblebee chirped something in a very dark and threatening manner before lightening his tone when he looked at Raf's arm.

"It's nothing Bee. I'm fine." He promised as they went back towards the Autobots. Starscream went to step forward when Megatron spoke suddenly.

"If this human was important enough to entrust with the Matrix of Leadership, he should be worth two Omega Keys." He said in a thoughtful voice.

"Which means, you're not really worth much at all." Knockout pointed out to Artemis and holding her up.

"Then open the pod, and see what happens." Artemis challenged, looking him the in the optic.

"One Key for one human." Optimus said firmly, giving Megatron a glare that could rival Batman's. The leader of the Decepticons shrugged and allowed Starscream to keep moving forward. Arcee approached him, hatred written all over her face.

"No tricks! The Key if you please." Starscream said, placing Jack on the ground and holding out his servo. Arcee dropping the key into his greedy palm and gave Jack a comforting smile, her optics lingering on his puffy eye. They stepped back leaving only Artemis still a hostage for the Decepticons. Knockout walked up, swinging Artemis' pod by its handle.

"Come and get her, _Hotshot._" Knockout taunted. Smokescreen trudged forward and narrowed his optics at the medic.

"If you doing anything to her, I swear to the All Spark, I will end you." Smokescreen threatened.

"And they call me dramatic." He grumbled. "I'm waiting." The Autobot stomped forward and shoved the Key at the medic, hoping to scratch his paint. Knockout handed him his partner and stepped back.

"I hope you rust." Artemis told him spitefully as they walked away. Now that he was close to his charge, he could see that not only was she bleeding, but her arms, like the others, had finger-like bruises on them. As soon as they had fallen in line with the other Autobots, another Spacebridge opened, and a platoon of Vehicons flooded out of the portal and surrounded the heroes. The Autobots did their best to shield their partners, but there wasn't much they could do.

"Now bear witness while a new era begins for Cybertron." Megatron proclaimed as they started up the Omega Lock. "Behold, the age of the Decepticons." The humans watched in amazement as the activated lock restored a building to its former glory in a matter of seconds.

"By the All Spark." Everyone gasped as the smoke cleared.

"Instant home makeover." Miko breathed.

"Shiny." Knockout said with appreciative optics.

"You have what want, Megatron. This conflict is between Autobots and Decepticons. Allow me to return the humans to Earth." Optimus asked.

"Oh I wouldn't recommend it." Megatron cautioned with a smirk. "They'll be far safer here."

"He says while his goons point their weapons at us." Artemis mumbled leaning again the glass and folding her arms across her chest.

"Is the Spacebridge locked on target?" Megatron asked Starscream.

"Per your instructions, Lord Megatron." The seeker said with a half bow.

"Excellent. Why rule only one world, when I can rule two?" A Spacebridge opened above them, and the Omega Lock sent a beam of light straight through it.

"No." Optimus whispered realizing Megatron was bringing about the beginning of New Cybertron, and the end of Earth.

* * *

Paula Crock was not an interfering person. She firmly believed in letting her daughter live her own life, and make her own choices. Sure sometimes she would offer a guiding hand in making sure that Artemis stayed on the right path, but she tended to give her daughter free reign. And in response, Artemis was good at letting Paula know everything she needed to. So the fact that the ex-con has no clue as to what exactly her youngest child was doing after school all the time that she had been in Jasper wasn't the biggest surprise. June Darby, who Paula had become fast friends with, had told her that Artemis was with Jack and his friends most days, giving the Vietnamese woman a sense of comfort that she wasn't running around getting shot at.

Of course, this being Artemis, Paula assumed that she was not just hanging out and studying with her new friends. That just wasn't her style. But she trusted her daughter not to be doing anything too dangerous. After all, June, who was probably not used to her family running around trying to kill each other, didn't seem too concerned for their safety. So, when June had come over to her house wondering if she knew where the kids were with a worried expression, Paula began to get worried herself. She tried texting her daughter, as did Mrs. Darby, but neither got any reply.

"I'll try calling one of Jack's friends, see if he's seen them." June said. Paula nodded, and looked at her own phone nervously.

"Ratchet? It's June Darby. How are you?" Ratchet seemed like an odd name to Paula, but then again, she had run around in a skin tight spandex costume calling herself Huntress for years, so who was she to judge. "Oh, are the kids with them… Because we haven't seen them all day, and they aren't answering their phones." There was a pause, then a dial tone. "Ratchet? Hello? He hung up."

"Did he know where the children are?" Paula asked. June shook her head sadly.

"Maybe they're just out for a drive." She suggested, though she sounded unconvinced. Paula nodded, but didn't believe it. For a moment, she considered contacting Batman, just to make sure that Luthor really was done with Artemis and no longer had any interest in her, but decided against it in case the blonde was doing something she wasn't supposed to. Without any information, she was just going to hope her daughter and her new friends weren't in over their heads. "I'm going to try and call Jack one more time." June announced. They had made their way onto Paula's front porch, hoping their kids would just coming running up the street in perfect health. The cell phone rang twice before a long beam of light crashed into the ground, shaking the porch and startling both women. June dropped her phone as the both of them starred at the sight in front of them.

"June, please. What have our children been doing all this time?" Paula asked calmly, looking the nurse in the eye. She sighed, and gestured to the garage.

"It's a long story. Come on, I think I know where we can get some answers."

* * *

"So if the Omega Lock and restore Cybertron, it'll do the same to Earth, right?" Miko asked hopefully.

"No. It will Cyberform your planet to its new matrix, destroying all indigenous life in the process." Optimus explained gravelly.

"Why does it seem like our planet is in danger of being destroyed every other week?" Artemis asked bitterly, wiping at her face again. "And why is it always us that has to clean it up?"

"Because we're the only ones who can." Smokescreen told her gently. She gave him a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"You think?"

"What shall I call my new domain? New Kaon?" Megatron goaded. "Or perhaps, Gilded Earth?"

"NO!" Jack shouted, banging on his glass.

"Leave our planet alone!" Miko screamed, slamming her fists onto her own pod, despite the obvious wooziness it caused her.

"It gets threatened enough!" Artemis added angrily. The Decepticons responded by cackling madly. Optimus took a breath and made a dash for his discarded sword. Everyone's eyes widened as they watched him hack off Megatron's arm and destroy the Omega Lock. The Lock erupted into flame, and a Spacebridge appeared, prompting the Autobots to grab their charges and run for slowed to a walk once they were through the portal and got back to base.

"The children? What happened?" Ratchet asked incredulously, not noticing their injuries. The pods were set down, and Arcee opened them in silence. As soon as they were freed from the pods, the kids were immediately grabbed by their partners.

"Your face..." Arcee began, gently touching Jack's battered face. "I'm so sorry. This shouldn't have happened."

"I'm fine, really." He promised, trying to look sincere. Arcee sighed and grabbed an ice pack.

"It shouldn't have happened." She repeated.

Miko curled up in Bulkhead palm as he brought her close to his chest. "Miko…" He said, his voice full of worry and tinged with anger. "What happened to you?"

"Just a little tussle with Screamer. No biggy." She assured him, while he growled.

"I'm going to turn that slag-head into spare parts!" He promised, stomping his foot.

_Raf, are you alright?_ Bumblebee asked leaning over the railing to inspect his partner while Artemis knelt in front of him and tried to figure out what was wrong with his arm.

"I'll be okay. Just a little sore." The scout said something that sounded suspiciously like flagrant cursing and he shook a little as he spoke. Artemis grabbed a tensor bandage out of their medical kit and gently wrapped his arm and made him a makeshift sling using a blanket that had been left on the couch. "I'm okay now Bee, really." He promised.

"What about you?" Smokescreen asked his partner as she worked at stopping the blood flow. By this time, the entire lower half of her face was tinged orange with dried blood. She sighed as she dabbed disinfectant wipes along the cut.

"I'm sorry. I let us get caught. I should have been able to get us out of there." She admitted bitterly.

"Kid, you're not really blaming yourself for this?" Smokescreen asked incredulously, lifting her into his hand.

"And not only that, but I let them get hurt! And you sacrificed everything for us! What kind of a hero am I?" She demanded, looking guiltily at her boots, remembering Knockout's words to her.

"Artemis, it's not your fault. I was supposed to protect you, and I let Knockout hurt you. It's the Cons fault." Smokescreen told her, making her look at him. "I swear I'm going to make that sorry excuse for a medic pay, but right now, all that matters is your safe."

"But at what cost?" She asked, her gray eyes full of sadness. Smokescreen looked at her sorrowfully as she slipped out of his hand and back onto the platform. "Bulkhead, bring Miko over here, I want to make sure she doesn't have a concussion." The others let their partners down, and the humans converged and took in each other's injuries. Jack handed Miko another ice pack while Ratchet threw his servos in the air.

"What in the name of Primus happened?" He cried, looking at their forlorn expressions. Bulkhead glared at him, and then sighed.

"The Cons kidnapped the kids and Optimus… he destroyed the Omega Lock." Ratchet's optics widened and his mouth fell open a little as he processed the information. Artemis shone a light into Miko's eyes and shook her head, before grabbing yet another ice pack and pressed it to the lump on the Asian girl's head.

"What? You did-" Ratchet spluttered.

"What was necessary. There no time for another prolonged battle. Not with Earth's safety in immediate danger."

"So you destroyed the only device in any universe capable of restoring our home?" Ratchet asked in such a heartbroken and betrayed tone that despite the pain in her face, Artemis wanted to hug him. "Optimus… we needed that."

"You weren't there Doc. There were hostages and wounded ones at that!" Smokescreen said, gesturing to where Jack was holding an ice pack to his eye, Miko was holding one to her head, Raf was absentmindedly fiddling with his sling and Artemis was still dabbing at her face. "And it's not your place to question a battlefield decision." He added.

"It most certainly is!" Ratchet said angrily. "There had to be a better way."

"It wasn't that simply Ratchet." Jack said guiltily, walking over, still holding his eye.

"Megatron was attacking the Earth!" Raf added, stepping forward being careful not to jostle his am.

"Optimus saved our planet!" Miko told him, daring him to say another word against the Autobot leader. She too was holding ice packs on her arms.

"Not to mention our lives!" Artemis agreed, wiping the dried blood off the lower half of her face. The doctor's face softened slightly at the sight of the beat up humans, but his optics were still hard.

"What about _our_ planet? What about all of our struggles and spilled Energon, and countless sacrifices? For nothing?" He demanded, his entire body shaking with emotion.

"Right decision or wrong, what's done is done." Arcee said calmly. "And we have another problem here on this world. The Cons changed the rules when they showed they were willing to hurt Jack, Miko, Raf and Artemis as well as put them into play." Before anyone could respond, the computer beeped at them and Agent Fowler's voice came on over the intercom.

"Prime! The Pentagon's prepared to go Def-con One and the Justice League are already being brought in. I need to know what we're dealing with here!" Fowler demanded, looking hassled.

"To what do you refer, Agent Fowler?" Optimus asked confusedly.

"Make you should step outside and take a look for yourself." He suggested.

"Ratchet. Watch. The children." The Autobots hurried away, once again leaving the children behind with the medic.

"I can't believe this is happening." Jack sighed, looking upset. Miko and Raf agreed.

"I'm not going to let it." Artemis said, finally getting the cut to stop bleeding. She walked into the back room without another word. The blonde found her 'in case of emergency' bag and dug through it until she found her communicator. A few minutes later, she emerged wearing her uniform and pulling the mask up over her face. She stormed over to where she kept her bow and quiver, snatched them up and headed towards the elevator.

"Where do you think you are going?" Ratchet demanded. Artemis turned to look at him, her gray eyes cold.

"To see what I can do to help. This is partly our fault and I'm going to do something about it." Her face was serious and the cut made her look scarily resolute. Maybe it was because of her determined expression and maybe it was because Ratchet was just too worn out, but he didn't stop her and the elevator door closed. It was a quick elevator ride, taking her to the top of the silo. Fowler's helicopter was to her right and laser fire was coming at her from the front.

"Geez who started the party without me?" She asked sarcastically before firing three of her newest arrows at one of the three Inceticons approaching her partner. They hit their target and exploded on impact, sending the creature over the edge of the silo to its doom.

"Kid! What the Pit are you doing?" Smokescreen demanded, rushing over to her, as she continued shooting at the bad guys.

"Providing back up." She said casually, sniping a seeker that got too close.

"Autobots, into the base." Optimus commanded. The Cybertronians moved to the elevator, but Smokescreen stopped to grab Artemis who was still stubbornly picking off Cons.

"Fowler? What are you doing?" Bulkhead yelled suddenly.

"My job, Two Ton." Fowler said, as he climbed into the pilot's seat and they lifted off the ground. They retreated into the base while Fowler rose into the air, facing an entire armada alone.

* * *

"What's going on?" Jack demanded as the base shook.

"The Decepticons have invaded Jasper." Optimus explained as they approached.

"And Fowler thinks he can hold them off himself!" Bulkhead exclaimed. Smokescreen stepped away from the others for a moment and looked sternly at Artemis.

"Is this some weird human custom I don't know about where you try to get yourself killed?" He reprimanded.

"Yeah, but it's not just a human custom! It's called trying to save the world." She snapped back at him. "I already failed one world, do you really think I'm going to sit back and let another down?"

"That. Was. Not. Your. Fault!" Smokescreen insisted, his temper rising again, though not at his partner. If Knockout had just left her alone, she wouldn't be risking her life like this. He made himself a promise that he would shove the Decepticon medic through more than a table when they next met.

"This is special Agent William Fowler requesting immediate air support!" Fowler said over the radio, drawing their attention to the security cameras watching Fowler's helicopter. Smokescreen and Artemis hurried back over and watched the footage.

"Come on, guys, where are you?" Artemis muttered when three Incecticons blocked his path. As if answering her prayer, laser fire came out of thin air and took down the bugs.

"Prime! Reinforcements have just arrive!" Fowler confidently.

"Agent Fowler, your military cannot prevail against the-" Optimus began.

"Looks like we arrived just in time."A familiar cocky voice said over the radio while everyone's eyes widened in surprise as a Martian ship flew into view next to another, more Cybertronian looking ship and continued to take out bugs. "What does that make us Rob?"

"Big damn heroes, Kid."A slightly younger voice replied. Smokescreen placed the voices and he smiled in spite of himself.

"Ain't we just?"Artemis grinned and ran towards the consol.

"Really? Can you two be bigger geeks?" Rocket snapped. Artemis smiled and shook her head.

"Friends of yours?" Agent Fowler asked her knowingly.

"Family." Artemis confirmed.

"And we even brought a friend!" Kid Flash added.

"You didn't bring Red Arrow along did you?" Artemis asked worriedly.

"You didn't think I'd let Team Prime have all the fun do you?" A new voice said.

"Ha ha! It's Jackie!" Bulkhead cheered.

"Wheeljack? But- how did you-?" Ratchet asked, suddenly looking far happier.

"Picked up a strange energy surge and bumped into the kids on the way." Wheeljack explained.

"We were already en route and thought he was the enemy until Superboy noticed the Autobot Insignia. We explained who we were and agreed to work together." Aqualad finished.

"Hope you don't mind the company."

"No! It's just that after everything…"

"We're still on the same team Doc. Always will be."

"Enemies approaching to the starboard side." Miss. Martian announced before the radio fell silent.

"Ratchet, prepare to bridge everyone out of the Base." Optimus ordered.

"We're abandoning the base?"

"The base is lost. Wheeljack, Agent Fowler and the Earth Heroes can only buy us so much time. Bumblebee, Rafael, you will depart first." Optimus told them.

"You're splitting us up?" Raf asked.

"Shouldn't we stick together?" Jack questioned.

"All for one, and one for all?" Miko asked pleadingly.

"No. It'll be harder to find us if we split." Artemis said, shaking her head. 'Hopefully that tactic will work better than last time." She thought bitterly, recalling how easily Knockout, Starscream and Soundwave trapped them earlier that day.

"Artemis is correct. We must disperse to avoid capture until we can regroup and launch a counter attack. Survival is our only priority now." Ratchet opened a bridge and Raf and Bumblebee disappeared. Miko, and Jack starred longingly at each other before she and Bulkhead followed Raf and Bumblebee leaving Artemis, Smokescreen, Arcee and Jack.

"Look after that eye." The archer told Jack as he put on his helmet. He smiled and nodded at her.

"Stay safe." And he too was gone.

* * *

"So you are telling me that our children have forged friendships with highly dangerous and extremely powerful alien robots from another planet, who, are waging a war with evil aliens from the same planet?" Paula asked skeptically from the passenger seat of her van as the two women drove to the outskirts of Jasper, not hearing about the call to evacuate. June nodded and sighed.

"I know it sounds crazy, but it's true." June said, almost pleadingly.

"Actually, it's not the strangest explanation I've ever been given," Paula said with slight chuckle. June raised an eyebrow. "I have not been exactly honest with you either. We didn't just move away from Gotham because of the crime rate." June listened with rapt attention while Paula explained herself.

"So, you're telling me now that your daughter is the newest sidekick of Green Arrow and that you moved to Jasper to hide from Lex Luthor?" June had been told that Artemis was combat trained and hiding out in Jasper, but from who and why was never fully disclosed.

"She's his partner. But basically yes. Her best friends are aliens, so I'm not surprised to hear she has made friends with more of them." Paula sighed. "And that would explain the injuries she's come home with. I just assumed she was training with a tree for a dummy." June gave her a skeptical look prompting Paula to shrug. "She's a violent person sometimes."

"We're almost there, it's just a little ways past this cli-!" June said, suddenly cutting off when something started shooting at them. Thanks to the nurse's evasive maneuvers, they swerved out of the way, only for a large, red eyed robot to land in front of them.

"I take it, this is the evil aliens you were talking about?" Paula asked, leaning back in her chair a little.

"How'd you guess?" June asked pounding on the horn. The robot advanced, on them.

"June, get out and run." Paula told her friend, pulling a pair of shuriken but not letting June or the robot see them.

"I'm not leaving you here." June said firmly, still blasting the horn. The robot's canon charged up, and Paula leaned out the window and threw the weapons with surprising accuracy, hitting the canon and the robots' optic. June looked over at Paula incredulously and the robot narrowed its optic unaffected.

"I may have left out a few details about myself" Paula admitted before turning back to the robot that was trying to kill them. However, before it could fire, someone shot it and it collapsed onto the hood of their car.

"Come on!" June said, getting out of the car and running to the other side to help Paula out of her side as a helicopter landed a few yards away. Both women ran to it, and June helped Paula into the back, climbing into the passenger side. "Agent Fowler, this is Paula Crock, Artemis' mother. Paula, this is Special Agent William Fowler, the liaison between the Autobots and the government." The helicopter took off and fell in next to a red ship that was familiar to Paula.

"Aqualad. Do you know where Artemis is?" She asked into radio.

"She was with the Autobots when I last spoke to her." Aqualad sounded stressed over the radio as they flew towards the base. Another, more sinister ship was hovering over top the base and a large weapon like object was protruding from it. The weapon charged up and fired, sending a beam of energy into the rock, shattering it in an explosion that rocked both Fowler's helicopter and the Bio-Ship.

"No…" June whispered, horrified. Paula sent a silent prayer to her deity, begging for her daughter to be alright.

* * *

Smokescreen looked at a pouting Artemis who was staring incredulously at her guardian.

"We can't just leave them here!"

"Orders are orders." Smokescreen sighed before turning to Optimus and Ratchet.

"It has been an honor." He said with a salute before transforming and opening the door for Artemis to climb in. They blew through the portal and emerged somewhere. Smokescreen transformed and let her out in an underground cavern.

"This isn't a random location somewhere far away from the base." She said pointedly examining the rock in front of her. It was the exact same as the rock that made up and surrounded the base.

"You said it yourself, we can't just leave them there." He admitted. "I know I'm supposed to be keeping you safe and everything, but I can't leave him to fight Megatron's army alone."

"I know Hotshot. And I agree completely." She assured him. Suddenly the ceiling shook and small pieces of debris came down on their heads.

"I'm going to go check that out. Stay here, I'll be back, I promise." She nodded as he turned on the Phase Shifter and ran back through the rock. Artemis paced back and forth, stopped to check her arrows, and then started pacing again, hating not knowing what was happening out there. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Smokescreen reappeared, but he wasn't alone.

"Ôi Chúa ơi…không…" Artemis breathed as Smokescreen dragged Optimus's charred and malfunctioning body through the wall. "Is he…?" She asked worriedly as Smokescreen set him down.

"Not yet I don't think. But he's out cold." They sat in silence while Smokescreen did his best to make sure Optimus wasn't going to run out of Energon.

"Do you think the others are okay?" She asked, her voice sounding far calmer then she was feeling. She was starting to become a little less traught and a little more chalant.

"I hope so." Smokescreen said the only thing he could without lying.

"Are we going to be okay?" She had taken off her mask letting Smokescreen see the entire jagged cut that Knockout had given her. He vented and looked back at his leader. He really didn't have an answer for her. They sat in almost total silence, both contemplating what they were going to do next. Smokescreen was fearing for Optimus' life, not knowing what they would do without their leader, while Artemis was freaking out over her mother's whereabouts and what the Team was doing. Finally after what seemed like days, Optimus stirred.

* * *

**I am such a jerk. Not only do I take forever to update, but then I give you a cliff-hanger. But I do hope you've enjoyed the chapter! I don't know why, but for some reason I really wanted the kids to have injuries thanks to the Cons. Maybe it's my inner sadistic murderer coming out? I also tweaked the way that Smoky got back to the base, because it doesn't make any sense in universe! In any case, I'll do my best to update quickly, but like I've said, I've been lazy. But until then, have an awesome summer! Next chapter is the Team meets Fowler, Artemis and Smokescreen debate leadership, the Bots try to find each other, and the Light try to make a deal! :D**


	20. I Can't Beleive That Worked

**Here it is! I guess I'll let you get right at it... Enjoy!**

* * *

Artemis had no clue how long Smokescreen had been gone for. It could have been days, weeks even, or it could have been fifteen minutes. All she knew that sitting in a cavern deep underground with the barley online Optimus was nerve wracking at best. She loathed the feeling of uselessness that came along with watching over the Autobot leader. She knew he was dying, but had no means of helping him. All she could do was sit there and pray. And she hated it. She hated the feeling of helplessness while Optimus lay dying beside her and Smokescreen risked his life scouting topside. But she had no choice. It's not like she was doused in radioactive materials and developed the ability to heal Cybertronians. She couldn't even contact the Team because she was out of M'gann's telepathic range, and the cavern that they were hiding in was too far underground for any type of electronic communication to work. So she was stuck sitting there praying for Optimus to wake up, for Smokescreen to come back with good news, for the others to stay safe, for the Team, Fowler, Paula, June and the rest of Jasper were alive and well, and that the Decepticons giant fortress would fall on their heads and crushed them.

* * *

"The Autobots clearly Groundbridged from their base before it was destroyed." Megatron growled as he and Starscream strolled along the wreckage that used to be the Autobot base. "They could be anywhere."

"We must initiate global surveillance my liege. Send search and destroy teams to every sector of this planet." Starscream suggested.

"Soundwave. Monitor all Earth based transmissions for any sign of Autobot communication, with each other, or their human counterparts." Megatron said with a menacing undertone.

"Master…" The Decepticon leader turned his attention towards where his Second in Command was looking. In the distance, he could see human military approaching in tanks and helicopters. There were all of a tan colour, except for the lone, black jet that flew point. There were also several tiny figures that accompanied the jet, two of which glowed with a strange form of green energy.

"Attention, you are illegally based on Earth soil. Disengage all weapons and stand down, or suffer the consequences." One of the glowing green figures demanded. Megatron realized that the green figures were the Green Lanterns stationed in this sector. The Decepticon scoffed a little. Back before Cybertron had gone dark, the Guardian's Manhunters, were completely useless in preventing the War on Cybertron. Then after war had broken out, the planet was abandoned, left to rot in the Forgotten Zone, along with all the other planets in that system. Needless to say, Cybertronian opinion of the Green Lantern Corps was not very high.

"Foolish insolent humans." Starscream growled, clearly insulted that such lower life forms would dare to threaten him. "I shall deploy the armada, and show these vermin the true meaning of consequences." He spat.

"That won't be necessary Starscream. Not when we can engage our enemy with new found might." Megatron smirked as his weapon charged up and fired. His smirk only grew wider as it hit its target. As the explosion spread outwards, a figure ejected from the black jet moments before the force of the explosion ripped it apart. The figure fell for a few moments before one of the Green Lanterns swooped in and caught it. Megatron chuckled as the tanks and helicopters warped from the explosions. Oddly, the seemingly unprotected humans appeared unscathed, and even rescued some of the helicopter pilots. But Megatron wasn't concerned. They would all fall before him soon enough.

* * *

Bruce was beginning to hate flying. Every time he took the Bat-Plane out of the Batcave, he wound up being shot out of the sky, and needing Clark of all people to rescue him. It was embarrassing. Though, considering this time it was Hal who caught him, it was not as bad as it usually was. Still, the alien's weapon was devastatingly powerful. Batman realized with a jolt that while he, Clark, John, Hal and Diana had managed to rescue most of the soldiers that had come with the Leaguers to confront the aliens, the entire town nearby was decimated. The town that he had forced Artemis and her mother to live in after it became clear that the archer was losing her control on the situation back in Gotham. While he knew that the people had been evacuated, he knew that Artemis wouldn't just leave if she thought she could help, and the protective part of him worried for her and her mother.

"Well that was disastrous." Diana muttered as they retreated towards the nearest military base. "What do we do now?" She asked, flying next to Hal, who was using his ring to levitate Batman back to base. Bruce sighed, though it came out as more of a growl.

"Now we go to Plan D."

* * *

"Arrow! What exactly is going on? Do you know where Artemis is?" Paula asked with a strained calmness that June was surprised she possessed. As soon as they had seen the Base blow, Folwer had taken them back to the military base that he worked at with the teen heroes in Bio-Ship not far behind. To their surprise, Green Arrow and Red Tornado were waiting for them, along with several members of the Justice League. The Team quickly left with the android to debrief while Green Arrow greeted the helicopter.

"Paula! Thank goodness you're safe!" The archer cried pulling the ex-con into a hug before helping her out of the helicopter.

"I am fine. But what are you doing here?"

"Short version: Alien invaders are attacking from their enormous fortress. The government called us in as soon as their fortress appeared." Green Arrow sighed, as they walk into the base together. "Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman and Green Lanterns Hal and John are confronting them now." He added grimly.

"We know about the aliens. They've been here a while now." June sighed, following Fowler, who leading them through the base.

"Really? Because we've only known for about an hour. Why is that exactly?" The emerald archer asked with a slightly accusatory tone.

"Because the government didn't want the super powered members of the Justice League to make an alliance with the Autobots in case we needed to take you down. I've already explained all this to your lovely protégé and she has moved past it, so do you think we could do the same?" Fowler asked, sounding annoyed. Green Arrow nodded, his face softening at the mention of his protégé. Batman had already chewed out General Bryce, so he wasn't too fussed about not knowing about the Cybertronians beforehand. The four of them walked into a small office. No sooner had they all found chairs and gotten settled, did the door to the office open and Batman and Superman walked in. June's eyes widened a little.

"So I'm assuming that asking them to give up went as well as expected?" Green Arrow asked sarcastically. Batman threw a glare at him and Superman sighed.

"At least we know what their weapon can do."

"Oh yeah, that's a real comfort." Arrow groaned. Batman turned to Paula and June, who were quietly waiting in the corner of the office.

"Paula, why don't you go meet with the Team. Kid Flash has been asking about you." Paula nodded.

"Why don't you come with me? We can see if we can reach Jack as well." June nodded as well and the two women disappeared out the door.

"Alright so what's our next step?" Superman asked, looking in between Folwer and Batman. The Dark Knight opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by the telephone. Folwer raised an eyebrow before putting the phone on speaker.

"Agent Folwer here."

"Greetings Agent Fowler."

"Megatron!" The members of the Justice League exchanged looks while the war lord chuckled darkly.

"Precisely. I'm assuming you've been briefed on your government's little attempt to confront me?"

"I've heard." Fowler growled.

"You can see a new power dominates your world. Any further attempts to attack me, will be met with even greater force. Your leaders should be advised, my fusion canons possess enough firepower to decimate any densely populated area of my choosing. I would in all likelihood set my sights on your nation's capital for starters." Batman's eyes narrowed beneath his cowl and Superman looked ready to fry the phone with his heat vision.

"Point taken, now what do you want from us?" Fowler demanded, looking just as angry at the threat, but keeping his voice calm.

"Nothing, Agent Fowler. The Decepticons mean no harm to humanity. We merely desire a place to call home." Green Arrow rolled his eyes.

"No offence, Megatron," Folwer sneered. "But I'm having a tough time swallowing all this, since you seem so bent on plastering humankind under molten steel. Not to mention, I seem to recall being shot out of the sky more than a few times by you 'Cons."

"Agent Fowler, I admit that war brings out the worst in me, but the conflict with the Autobots is now over, and our quarrel has never been with your kind. Now that the one true enemy of the Decepticons is no more, my only wish is to co-exist on this planet with the human race… Peacefully. Together Agent Fowler, I believe that you and I can make that dream a reality." And with that, Megatron hung up. There was silence in the office for a good ten seconds.

"That's all I needed to know." And Batman turned on a dime and left, Superman hot on his heels.

"You know, I hate it when he does that." Green Arrow sighed, shaking his head. "Do you really think he wants peace?"

"This is the guy who kidnapped your sidekick in order to blackmail the Autobots into giving him the only thing that could revive their home planet. Peace is the last thing on his mind." The archer glared and growled a bit.

"She's not my sidekick… I'm going to go talk to Batman." He said, before leaving Folwer to his thoughts.

* * *

"Artemis?" The blonde perked up as Smokescreen's head poked through a wall, quickly followed by the rest of his body. "How is he?"

"The same as when you left to scout topside." She sighed. After Optimus had woken up the first time, Smokescreen had promptly asked him to power down again, promising to look after him while he healed. Now he hadn't moved in ages. Smokescreen sighed and sat down next to Artemis, who had perched herself on a flat rock after pacing around the cavern had grown tiresome. "How is it up there?"

"The Cons destroyed most of Jasper. There didn't seem to be any humans around though." He added quickly when Artemis' face grew distraught. "I'm sure your mother's alright."

"So what's our next move?" She asked after a brief moment of silence.

"We wait for Optimus to wake up, let him heal, find the others and take down Megatron." Smokescreen stated simply. Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Gee, that sounds like a fool proof plan. I don't think anything could go wrong with that stroke of brilliance." She snipped, the sarcasm dripping from her words.

"I know. It's kinda like all of your plans." Smokescreen returned evenly.

"Touché. But at least I usually know most of the variables. We don't even know if the others are alright!"

"We're just going to have to believe that they are." The Autobot said simply. Artemis sighed angrily and folded her arms across her chest.

"I hate this. I hate this a lot." She growled, digging her fingernails into her arms. "I want to do something! Like kick Megatron in the face… if my mom's injured or worse I'm going to…" Smokescreen looked at his distressed partner and gently picked her up and protectively wrapped his fingers around her tiny frame.

"I know. But we're going to fix this. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." She muttered darkly.

"Who said I can't keep that promise? You seem to be forgetting how incredibly talented and brilliant I am. And you're just as gifted." Despite their grim situation, Artemis grinned.

"So, if you're wrong, and we all die, I can blame you?"

"Go ahead. But when we do make it out, and everyone's back together, I get to say I told you so."

"Deal." She smiled, gently bumping her fist into his thumb.

"Why don't you get some rest?" The blonde nodded and slipped out of her quiver and handed it to Smokescreen, who placed it on the rock she was previously sitting on. She curled up in the palm of his hand and closed her eyes, leaving the Autobot to watch over both human and Prime.

* * *

"Mrs. Crock!" June took a step back and assessed the situation in front of her; six super powered teenagers and Robin, the Boy Wonder were all rushing to crowd around the wheelchair bound woman. The same woman that June regularly had over for tea and who apparently was on a first name basis with half the Justice League.

"Are you alright?"

"How come you didn't evacuate with the others?"

"Is Artemis alright?"

"I am fine. All of you worry too much. June and I were on our way to the Autobot base to see if we could find our children…" Kid Flash's face visibly fell.

"So you don't know where Artemis is?" He asked, eliciting a few sympathetic looks from his teammates and a comforting pat on the shoulder from Robin.

"I am sorry. The last time I saw her, she was on her way to school." Paula sighed sadly.

"We tried reaching every way we could. Telepathy, comm. link, even the special communicator that's nearly impossible to jam." Aqualad told them in a grave voice. "She has not replied to anything."

"Did you try her cell phone?" June asked, announcing her presence for the first time since the young heroes arrived.

"No answer. My apologies, I do not believe we have been properly introduced. I am Aqualad, this is Rocket, Zatanna, Miss. Martian, Superboy, Kid Flash, and Robin." Each made a small gesture at the sound of their name.

"June Darby."

"You're Jack's mom right?" Kid Flash asked, looking at her curiously. June nodded.

"How did you know that?"

"I met him a while ago, around the same time I met Smokescreen the first time. You look alike." He explained. "Is he missing too?"

"Yes. I can't reach him or his guardian." June sighed before a man in a military uniform jogged up to them.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but you're presence has been requested in the War Room." The man informed the teenagers. Aqualad nodded.

"Please excuse us. Paula, we shall let you know immediately if we find any news on Artemis' whereabouts." The heroes said their goodbyes, and hurried off.

"Are you Nurse Darby?" The man asked once the others were gone.

"I am."

"We could use your assistance in the Medical Bay."

"Of course. Lead the way." June and Paula followed the soldier, both praying for their offspring.

* * *

Vandel Savage stood by his colleagues and watched the pitiful attempt the Justice League made at getting the Cybertronians to surrender on the footage that one of Ivo's MONKIS had recorded. He almost laughed.

"And you have told us everything you have found out about these… Cybertronians?" Savage asked, turning to face Luthor as the League made a speedy retreat on the video.

"Everything I have learned from both M.E.C.H and the young hero, Artemis." Luthor confirmed.

"Alright then." Savage turned back to the computer and closed the video window and opened a video link with the frequency Ra's al Ghul had procured. After a moment of silence, the dark screen flickered to life, giving the Light their first real glimpse of the Decepticon leader.

"Greeting, Lord Megatron." Savage said, inclining his head slightly. "I am Vandel Savage, and these are my associates." The imposing Decepticon sneered at the humans condescendingly.

"And who are you to contact me?" Megatron asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"We are the Light. And we have a proposition for you." Megatron turned to his subordinate and chuckled deeply who smiled and shook his head.

"And what exactly do you think mere humans like yourselves could offer me?" He questioned, turning back to the Light and looking amused. Savage smiled at him.

"The Light has many things to offer; between the seven of us, we hold both power and position over the entire globe. Not only that, but we have access to cutting edge technology and weapons." Megatron was silent for a moment before he broke out into near hysterical laughter. The smiled slipped off Savages' face.

"Foolish humans." The subordinate chuckled. "Do you not realize that there is nothing you can offer us? The so called cutting edge technology you have has already been surpassed by Cybertronians eons ago. Any weapon you possess would pale in comparison to our fusion canons. And there is nothing more powerful than the glorious Decepticon Empire. Your species is a pathetic one." Savage glared as did the others. (Well, Klarion snickered, but he wasn't human anyways.)

"You underestimate us." Queen Bee told them, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Actually, I believe we've estimated you're usefulness perfectly. You have nothing to offer us." Megatron said once he had finally stopped laughing. He gave them an evil smirk and cut the transmission.

"That went well." Klarion snickered, oblivious to the hateful glares sent his way.

* * *

"Ugh." Optimus groaned, startling Smokescreen, who jumped and woke up Artemis. He quickly set her down and was by the Prime's side in an instant, while the blonde tried to get her bearings.

"Optimus, it's okay. You're with me- Smokescreen." Artemis made a noise in the back of her throat. "Oh, and Artemis too."

"How did I get here?" Optimus groaned.

"When we were evacuating the base, just as the Con's opened fire, it was our turn to Groundbridge away." Smokescreen began.

"But we couldn't just leave you there in good conscious." Artemis continued, hoisting herself up onto a rock so that Optimus could see her. "So we used the Phase Shifter to bypass the portal and we drove through the rock until we made it into this cavern."

"I dropped Artemis off and came back. But that's when the blast hit, and the whole joint came tumbling down. I managed to pull you from the wreckage, before the Cons dove in… I'm sorry I defied your orders." He added remorsefully.

"Uh, Hotshot, I don't think that's his main concern right now." Artemis chided, her eyes watching the mech worriedly.

"Anyways, we're safe here, but we're down so deep no one can pick up our signals."

"No one. I've tried reaching the Team, but there's nothing." Artemis added. "Wally's probably going insane." She muttered to herself.

"So I'll have to go back above ground if we have any chance of locating Ratchet." Smokescreen said, moving to stand.

"No… no hope." Smokescreen wheeled around and looked incredulously at Optimus while Artemis looked at him in concern.

"What do you mean? The Doc's the only one who can get you patched up! Optimus…" The Autobot leader fell silent.

"Has he powered down again?" Artemis asked edging closer to the fallen Bot.

"I can't tell…" Smokescreen said, checking Optimus for a pulse. He sighed when he found one.

"What did he mean, no hope?" The blonde wondered aloud.

"I'm sure he was just delirious from the pain. But we need to find Ratchet." Artemis rolled her eyes.

"And how are we going to do that? We have no communications, no Groundbridge and no way of even finding him, or anyone else!"

"Then what do you supposed we do?" Smokescreen asked shortly.

"Go up to our old base, make sure no one's around and find a medical kit or something!" Artemis yelled back.

"Oh. Good plan." He said, turning to leave again. Artemis sighed and climbed onto the rock the Prime's head was resting on.

"You're going to be okay." She said gently.

"No… hope." He murmured again.

"You know, the last time I was in this sort of a situation, I thought the same thing." She said, a memory flashing through her head. "A friend of mine, was much more nonchalant than I was." She began to absentmindedly stroke the cold metal of Optimus' head. "He asked if I was distraught and I blew up at him. 'Of course I'm distraught!' My best friends were dying, and I was almost out of arrows. I was not feeling the aster. I was completely hopeless, but he just looked at me and said, 'Well get traught, or get dead.'" Optimus cracked an optic open and looked at her. She gave him her most comforting smile and continued. "That's all you have to do. Get traught." His optics closed again and the archer's smile slipped off her face. She was quickly starting to feel more chalant than traught.

* * *

"Agent Fowler! Agent Fowler!" June cried joyfully, running towards the special agent. "Jack contacted me! He's with Arcee! They're both safe!" For the first time that day, Fowler smiled and accepted the hug June gave him.

"Good. Any news on the others?" June's smiled deflated a little as she shook her head. Fowler patted her shoulder. "Well, if Jack and Arcee are alright, there's a good chance the others made it out safe as well. I'm going to report in with the League." June nodded and Fowler hurried across the compound to the War Room. He knocked four times before the door was answered and he was let in.

"I just got word from one of the Bots. She and her human partner are safe for now." He said nodding in greeting.

"Did they say where they are?" Batman asked. Fowler shook his head. "Alight. For now we'll plan this without the Autobots. Team, you're going to infiltrate the Decepticon stronghold and find a way to disable their plasma canons so that the League and the Army can launch a counter attack." Batman said, addressing the teenagers in the room. You're going to be on your own getting in and out so that they don't suspect a heavier force is waiting for them." The Dark Knight explained, not looking too thrilled with the idea. The other Leaguers whose partners were present didn't look happy either.

"We understand." Aqualad said after glancing around at his team.

"The most important thing you remember is-"

"Sir!" The door to the War Room slammed open and an out of breath soldier came flying into the room. Batman's eye slits narrowed as Green Arrow and Red Tornado helped the man to his feet. "Sir! Lex Luthor and his associates are outside the gate and demanding to see you!"

"Luthor? What does he want?" Superman growled angrily.

"Don't be so antagonistic Superman. After all," Said a suave voice. Luthor confidently strode into the room, prompting most of the League and all of the Team to draw a weapon or charge their powers. "I might just have the thing you need to successfully take down the aliens."

"Yeah? And why should we trust you?" Green Arrow spat, glaring at him with as much hate as Superman was.

"Because it wouldn't be me you were trusting, it would be one of your own." Luthor replied, totally at ease in the room filled with people who hated him.

"You mean the weapon you wanted Artemis to help you build." Robin sneered, already knowing that the weapon wouldn't work, thanks to Artemis' purposely misleading information.

"That, along with all the technology that M.E.C.H has already acquired."

"So we would still really be trusting you then." Fowler said, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"Call it what you will, but the truth remains; you need what I offer." Superman glared and walked right up to Luthor. The Kryptonian towered over the businessman, but Luthor barley blinked.

"I don't think so." He growled before stomping off to cool down. Luthor smiled and turned to Batman.

"What about you?" Batman remained silent and carefully watched the villain. "Though it's not really up to you. You're not the one who's going to be risking his neck on the front lines, is it?" He asked, looking over at the Team, his eyes lingering on each teenager in. Batman sighed.

"What do you have?"

* * *

"I'm back!" Smokescreen called, running into the cavern. He glanced at Artemis and knelt down beside Optimus. "I combed through every square micron of our old base, but I couldn't find Ratchet's medical kit. There wasn't even a bandage." Smokescreen sighed as Optimus' dull optics flickered over to him.

"The Forge… of Solus Prime." He whispered.

"It's gone." The Autobot told him somberly, while Artemis stroked his head again. "The Cons' picked the place clean."

"Don't worry about that now. We can deal with it after you're not half offline." Artemis promised while Smokescreen's head suddenly popped up in understanding.

"What?" Artemis asked, looking at her partner cocking her head to the side.

"The Forge! If he had that, he could fix himself up! Power of the Primes!" He cried excitedly. "It's got to be in Megatron's fortress somewhere! Hang on for just a little longer Optimus!" He turned to leave, but before he could make it through the rock, the archer sprinted in front of him and held out her arms. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"You're not leaving without me again." She insisted.

"Look someone needs to watch over Optimus."

"Why? If he goes critical, what can I do about it? I can't communicate with you down here, I have no idea how to help him, and even if I did, I'm too small to be any use!"

"It's too dangerous up there!" Artemis growled at him.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that. I can take care of myself Hotshot, and I can watch your back too." Smokescreen looked at her, his expression showing how conflicted he was. "Listen, I want to help and I can't sit in the cave any longer without knowing if you, or any of the others are alright! I'm having enough trouble staying traught as it is!" To emphasis her point, she snapped out her bow and gave him a pointed look. Smokescreen sighed and pinched his optics shut.

"Fine, but you have to promise you'll do as I tell you."

"Whatever you say Hotshot." She said with a grin, feeling much better now that she was able to help. He grumbled something unintelligible, holding his hand out to her. She smiled and climbed aboard.

* * *

They were much closer to Darkmount then Artemis realized. It only took them fifteen minutes to traverse from their cavern to the Decepticon citadel.

"Nice little place Megatron's built himself." Smokescreen commented, as they peeked their heads out of the dirt.

"Great. It could take us days to find the Forge!" Artemis bemoaned, fingering her bow tightly. Smokescreen scanned the enormous structure before grinning.

"Not if he keeps his valuables in the same places." Artemis followed his line of sight and smirked. The Autobot pulled them both out of the ground and switched off the Phase Shifter.

"Now, how do we get up there?" She asked, looking up at the ship. "It's not like we can just walk up to it…" Smokescreen smirked in a devious way, and offered her his hand.

"You just leave that to me."

* * *

M'gann suddenly went rigid. After Batman had accepted help from Luthor, Conner had angrily stormed from the War Room, closely followed by his girlfriend. Now the two of them were sitting outside the building on a bench that was shaded by a few trees. Conner looked at her worriedly when she abruptly straightened up.

"M'gann? Are you alright?" She didn't answer him, and starred ahead of her.

_'A-Artemis? Is that you?'_

_'M'gann! Are you alright? What about the others, are they okay?' _The Martian's face broke out into an enormous grin, and she looked at her boyfriend with an elated expression.

"I've made contact with Artemis!" She squealed happily. Conner smiled as well.

"Is she alright? Where is she?" M'gann quickly pulled Conner into their mind link.

_'We're all alright! We're with your mother at the military base Agent Fowler works at. Where are you? Did you make it out of the base before it blew?'_

_'My mom is there? Cảm tạ thượng đế. Smokescreen said that the Cons destroyed Jasper!'_

_'They evacuated the town just in time! But you're mother and June are at the base with us and some of the Justice League! What about you?_

_'I'm alright too. Hotshot and I got out before the base blew and circled back to grab Optimus. We've been hiding out in an underground cavern.'_

_'That's why we couldn't reach you! But where are you now?'_

_'Sneaking into the Decepticon war ship. What about the others? Can you ask Fowler if anyone's made contact?' _M'gann and Conner exchanged a worried glance.

_'You're sneaking into the Decepticon war ship? Why?'_

_'Conner! And yeah, we need something from it. What about the others?'_

_'June says that Jack and Arcee are safe. We don't know about the others.'_

_'Well, that's something I suppose… Scrap, we're here. I have to go! I'll try to make contact again before we head back underground. Stay safe, and make sure no one does anything stupid!' _

_'That goes double for you.' _Conner told her. Artemis chuckled before M'gann disconnected with her.

"At least we know she's safe." The clone sighed.

"But what could they need in the war ship?" M'gann pondered.

"Don't know, but we should tell the others."

"Right! Let's go."

* * *

"I can't believe that worked." Artemis whispered in disbelief once M'gann had disconnected. Smokescreen jogged through one the walls in Darkmount and out onto the platform connecting to the Nemesis and grinned at her.

"And you didn't even have to waste any of your arrows." The blonde made a noise of disbelief in the back of her throat. "So what did your friends say?" They had just reached the base of Darkmount when Artemis excitedly started whispering about the Martian making psychic contact.

"All the humans are safe. Apparently they evacuated Jasper before it was destroyed. And Jack and Arcee made contact. Not sure about the others though."

"We'll worry about them later. As soon as we get Optimus functioning again we can deal with everything else." The pair moved through the Nemesis quietly, avoiding the patrols as best they could. Smokescreen had Artemis in one hand, and his blaster in the other, while the archer had an arrow already notched in her bow.

"Maybe it's this way?" Artemis asked, gesturing around the corner.

"I'm sorry, overreacting?" Both human and Autobot looked at each other with wide eyes and optics as Starscream's voice wafted around the corner. They looked around wildly before Smokescreen simply leapt through the nearest wall. "Easy for you to say, Knockout. Nobody here wants your post. I on the other hand, hold the most coveted position in the Decepticon ranks. And no matter what he may claim, I know that Shockwave is plotting to usurp me. Did you see the smug look in his optic when he unveiled that vile beast to Lord Megatron?"

"Wow. And I thought human politics were bad." Artemis commented once the voices had died down. "Who's Shockwave?" Smokescreen shook his head.

"Bad news." He said simply. "They say he has no capacity for emotion, only logic." He explained.

"Huh. Just like my Physics teacher at Gotham Academy."

"Come on, let's get moving." The Autobot said with a chuckle, backing up slowly through the walls again. They continued to move backwards until all of a sudden, they were face to face with the shocked face of a spiderlike Decepticon. "Gaah!" Smokescreen cried stumbling back a little and accidently dropping his charge. He stumbled back a bit before regaining his footing.

"OW! Watch it will you!" Artemis snarled rubbing her bottom. Smokescreen smiled sheepishly and offered her a servo. They took a proper look and he realized that the scary Con was frozen in a stasis pod.

"Ha, you don't scare me ugly!" He laughed. The blonde rolled her eyes.

"Because when Bots are feeling brave, they shriek like little girls, right?" She said innocently.

"Ha, ha." They turned around and the Elite Guard let out a low whistle in appreciation. "Hello beautiful."

"Quick, grab it and let's blow this Popsicle stand!" Smokescreen looked at her curiously.

"What's a popsicle?"

"Never mind, let's go!" She said, as heavy footsteps sounded outside the room. Smokescreen grabbed the hammer, stowed it and snatched up the heroine, leaving the same way they came in. When they got a decent distance away from the stronghold, Artemis stopped her protector.

"Wait a sec…"

_'Artemis!'_

_'Megan! What's wrong?!'_

_'Fowler says that Ratchet transmitted their co-ordinates!'_

"M'gann says that Ratchet sent his co-ordinates to Fowler." Artemis told Smokescreen quickly.

"Really?" Artemis nodded.

_'M'gann, bring the Team and the Bio-Ship, and meet me where the base used to be! We need to check out those co-ordinates!'_

_'Acknowledged. We're on our way.' _

"I'm going with the Team and we'll meet up with the others. You take the Forge and revive Optimus! When you're ready, use my communicator and contact us. The Cons shouldn't be able to trace it." She said quickly, handing the green engraved circle to the titan. He did not look pleased.

"What? You want to split up, _again_?!" He sputtered.

"I don't like it either, but we need to combine our forces if we want to take down Darkmount. Someone needs to let the others know where we are and you have to use the Forge to fix Optimus!" She told him. He sighed in defeat.

"Alright, that makes sense. Just be careful."

"I'm not the one I'm worried about. Take care of Optimus."

"Can you make it by yourself?" He asked.

"Hotshot, Batman makes us sprint a thousand miles as a warm up. I'll be fine." She gave his finger a tight squeeze, flashed him a confident grin, and jogged off towards the base.

* * *

**So I will do my best to update quickly since I did , but it's been a busy summer! Anyways, I decided to let Artemis go with the Team to meet up with the other Autobots because I wanted her and the Team to actually fight. But I've gotten over 100 reviews! You guys are so phenomenal! Thank you so, so much! Well, I hope you guys are having a terrific summer! I'll see you guy as soon as possible! :D**


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